LIBRARY
OF THF.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
©IFT OF
THE' BANCROFT LIBRARY -
THE
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY:
CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE
LIVES, CHARACTERS, AND WRITINGS
OF THE
tost Eminent &tttm mastfc m
FROM ITS FIKST SETTLEMENT.
BY
WILLIAM ALLEN, D. D.,
LATE PRESIDENT OF BOWDOIN COLLEGE, FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES,
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, AND OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF
MASSACHUSETTS, MAINE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW YORK, AND NEW JERSEY; AUTHOR
OF "ADDRESSES," AND OF THE "VALE OF HOOSATUNNUK."
QUIQUE SUI MEMORES ALIOS FECERE MERENDO.-»YmGlL.
THIBD EDITION.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY.
CLEVELAND, OHIO :
HENRY P. B. JEWETT.
M.DCCC.LVII.
?$"?
/
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY,
In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts,
LITIIOTYPED BY THE AMERICAN STEREOTYPE COMPANY,
P1ICENIX BUILDING, BOSTON.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
THE following work presents itself to the public with no claims to attention, but such as
are founded upon the interest which may be felt in the lives of Americans. Finding
himself, a few years ago, in a literary retirement, with no important duties which pressed
immediately upon him, the author conceived the plan of this Dictionary. He was desirous
of bringing to the citizens of the United States more information than was generally
possessed, respecting the illustrious men of former times, the benefactors and ornaments of
this country, who have passed away. He persuaded himself that, if he could collect the
fragments of biography, which were buried in the mass of American history, or scattered
amidst a multitude of tracts of various kinds, and could fashion these materials into a
regular form, so as to place before the eye our great and good men, if not in their full
dimensions, yet in their true sliape, he should render an acceptable service to his country
men. This work, with no little labor, he has now completed ; and the inexperienced artist,
in his first essay, can hope only that his design will be commended. He wishes chiefly,
that, as the images of departed excellence are surveyed, the spirit which animated them
may be caught by the beholder.
As an apology, however, for the deficiencies and errors of various kinds which may be
found in the work, a full exposition of his plan, and some representation of the difficulty of
executing it, seem to be necessary.
It was proposed to give some account of the persons who first discovered the new world;
of those who had a principal agency in laying the foundations of the several colonies ; of
those who have held important offices and discharged the duties of them with ability and
integrity ; of those who have been conspicuous in the learned professions ; of those who
have been remarkable for genius and knowledge, or who have written anything deserving
of remembrance ; of the distinguished friends of literature and science ; of the statesmen,
the patriots, and heroes, who have contended for American liberty, or aided in the estab
lishment of our civil institutions ; and of all, whose lives, bright with Christian virtue,
might furnish examples which should be worthy of imitation. It was determined to enlarge
this wide field by giving as complete a list as could be made of the writings of each
person, and by introducing the first ministers of the principal towns, for the purpose of
illustrating the history of this country. The design included, also, a very compendious
history of the United States, as well as of each separate colony and State, for the satisfac
tion of the reader who might wish to view the subjects of the biographical sketches in
connection with the most prominent facts relating to the country in which they lived. In
addition to all this, it was intended to annex such references as would point out the
sources from which information should be derived, and as might direct to more copious
intelligence than could be contained in this work.
Such were the objects which the author had in view, when he commenced an enterprise,
of whose magnitude and difficulty he was not sufficiently sensible, before he had advanced
too far to be able to retreat. The modern compilers of similar works in Europe have
little else to do but to combine or abridge the labors of their predecessors, and employ the
229532 (iii)
IV PEEFACE.
materials previously collected to their hands. But in the compilation of this work a new
and untrodden field was to be explored. It became necessary, not only to examine the
whole of American history, in order to know who have taken a conspicuous part in the
transactions of this country, but to supply, from other sources, the imperfect accounts of
general historical writers. By a recurrence to the references, it will be seen that much
toil has been encountered. But, although the authorities may seem to be unnecessarily
multiplied, there has been some moderation in introducing them, for in many instances they
do not, by any means, exhibit the extent of the researches which have been made. It
could not be expected, or wished, that newspapers, pamphlets, and other productions should
be referred to for undisputed dates and single facts which they have afforded, and which
have been embodied with regular accounts. The labor, however, of searching for inform
ation has frequently been less than that of comparing different statements, endeavoring to
reconcile them when they disagreed, adjusting the chronology, combining the independent
facts, and forming a consistent whole of what existed only in disjointed parts* Sometimes
the mind has been overwhelmed by the variety and abundance of intelligence ; and some
times the author has prosecuted his inquiries in every direction, and found only a barren
waste.
For the large space which is sometimes occupied in describing the last hours of the
persons of whom a sketch is given, the following reasons are assigned. In the lives of our
fellow-men, there is no period so important to them, and so interesting to us, as the period
which immediately precedes their dissolution. To see one of our brethren at a point of
his existence, beyond which the next step will either plunge him down a precipice into an
abyss from which he will never rise, or will elevate him to everlasting glory, is a spectacle
which attracts us, not merely by its sublimity, but because we know that the flight of time
is rapidly hastening us to the same crisis. We wish to see men in the terrible situation
which inevitably awaits us; to learn what it is that can support them, and can secure them.
The gratification of this desire to behold what is great and awful, and the communication
of the aids which may be derived from the conduct of dying men, have accordingly been
combined in the objects of this work. After recounting the vicissitudes attending the
affairs of men, the author was irresistibly inclined to turn from the fluctuations of human
life, and to dwell, when his subject would give him an opportunity, upon the calm and firm
hopes of the Christian, and the sure prospects of eternity. While he thus soothed his
own mind, he also believed that he should afford a resting-place to the minds of others,
fatigued with following their brethren amidst their transient occupations, their successes,
their disappointments, and their afflictions.
Some terms are used which relate to local circumstances, and which require those
circumstances to be pointed out. In several of the New England States, when the annual
election of the several branches of the legislature is completed, and the government is
organized, it has been an ancient practice to have a sermon preached in the audience of
the newly-elected rulers, which is called the election sermon. This phrase would not need
an explanation to an inhabitant of New England. The names of pastor and teacher, as
distinct officers in the church, frequently occur. Soon after the first settlement of this
country, when some societies enjoyed the labors of two ministers, they bore the titles of
teacher and pastor, of which it was the duty of the former to attend particularly to doctrine,
and of the latter to exhortation ; the one was to instruct, and the other to persuade. But
the boundary between these two offices was not well defined, and was in fact very little
regarded. The distinction of the name itself did not exist long.
Great care has been taken to render the dates accurate, and to avoid the mistakes which
have been made from inattention to the former method of reckoning time, when March was
PREFACE. V
the first month of the year. If any one, ignorant of this circumstance, should look into
Dr. Mather's Magnalia, or ecclesiastical history of New England, he would sometimes
wonder at the absurdity of the writer. He would read, for instance, in the life of President
Chauncy, that he died in February, 1671, and will find it previously said that he attended
the commencement in the same year, which was in July. Thus, too, Peter Hobart is said
to have died in January, and yet to have been infirm in the summer of 1 G78. When it is
remembered that March was the first month, these accounts are easy to be reconciled.
There seems not, however, to have been any uniformity in disposing of the days between
the first and the twenty-fifth of March, for sometimes they are considered as belonging to
the antecedent, and sometimes to the subsequent year. American writers, it is believed,
have generally, if not always, applied them to the latter. When the figures for two years
are written, as in dates before the adoption of the new style in 1752 is found frequently to
be the case, not only for the days above mentioned, but for the days in January and
February, it is the latter year which corresponds with our present mode of reckoning.
Thus, March 1, 1689, was sometimes written March 1, 1688-9, or with the figures placed
one above the other. The months were designated usually by the names of the first, the
second, etc. ; so that February was the twelfth month.
No apology is necessary for the free use which has been made of the labors of others, for
the plan of this book is so essentially different from that of any which has preceded it, that
the author has not encroached upon the objects which others had in view. He has had no
hesitation in using their very language, whenever it suited him. Compilers seem to be
licensed pillagers. Like the youth of Sparta, they may lay their hands upon plunder
without a crime, if they will but seize it with adroitness. The list of American literary
productions, which has been rendered as complete as possible, is, for the sake of method,
placed at the close of each article ; and, in giving the titles of them, it will be perceived
that there has frequently been an economy of words, as far as was consistent with distinct
ness of representation.
The author is aware that he lives in times which are like all other times, when the sym
pathies of parties of different kinds are very strong ; and he believes that he has sought
less to conciliate them than to follow truth, though she might not lead him into any of the
paths along which the many are pressing. Without resolving to be impartial,, it would
indicate no common destitution of upright and honorable principles to attempt a delineation
of the characters of men. He may have- misapprehended, and he may have done what is
worse. All are liable to errors, and he knows enough of the windings of the heart to
remember that errors may proceed from prejudice, or indolence of attention, and be crimi
nal, while they are cherished as honest and well-founded convictions, the result of impartial
inquiry. He trusts, however, that nothing will be found in this book to counteract the
influence of genuine religion, evincing itself in piety and good works, or to weaken the
attachment of Americans to their well-balanced republic, which equally abhors the tyranny
of irresponsible authority, the absurdity of hereditary wisdom, and the anarchy of lawless
liberty.
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, August 2, 1809.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
AFTER a long interval since the first edition of this work, the author now offers this
second edition to the public. During twenty years past he has been repeatedly urged to
accomplish what he has not found leisure to accomplish till the present time. But the
delay, as the death-harvest among the eminent men of our country has been gathered in,
has swelled the catalogue of those who ought to be commemorated in a biography of " the
mighty dead " of America. The first edition was the first general collection of American
biography ever published ; and it is still the largest work of the kind which has appeared.
In the prospectus of this second edition it was proposed to print seven hundred and fifty
pages, and it was thought that the separate biographical notices would amount to about twelve
hundred, being about five hundred more than are contained in the first edition. But the
book has reached the unwieldly size of eight hundred and eight pages, and the biographical
articles exceed eighteen hundred, presenting an account of more than one thousand indi
viduals not mentioned in Lord's edition of Lempriere, and of about sixteen hundred not
found in the first ten volumes of the Encyclopedia Americana. Yet the author has been
obliged to exclude accounts of many persons of whom he would willingly have said some
thing. If he has at times misjudged in his exclusions and admissions, — yet for some
omissions an apology will be found in the difficulty of obtaining intelligence, as well as in
oversight, which could hardly fail to occur in a work of such extent, embracing such a
multitude of facts, and requiring, while in the press, such incessant attention and labor, —
he can only promise, should he live to publish an additional volume, or to prepare another
edition, an earnest effort to render the work more complete, and more free from error. In
the mean time he solicits the communication of intelligence respecting individuals worthy
of being remembered, who have escaped, or who are likely to escape, his unassisted
researches.
To those gentlemen in different parts of our country, who have favored him with notices
of their friends, or of others, he returns his acknowledgments. He has been particularly
indebted to the biographical collections of Mr. Samuel Jennison, Jun., of Worcester,
Mass., and to the accurate antiquarian researches of Mr. John Farmer, of Concord, N. II.,
whose New England Genealogical Register will enable most of the sons of the Pilgrims
of New England to trace their descent from their worthy ancestry. The authorities
referred to, though abridged from the first edition, will show to what books he has been
chiefly indebted.
America is reproached in Europe for deficiency in literature and science ; but if one will
consider that it is not two hundred years since the first press was set up in this country,
and will then look at the list of publications annexed to the articles in this Biography, he
will be astonished at the multitude of works which have been printed. New England was
founded by men of learning, whose first care was to establish schools ; and the descendants
of the fathers have inherited their love of knowledge and mental energy. No race of men
on the face of the earth, it may be safely asserted, are so rational, so intelligent, so
(vi)
PREFACE. Vll
enlightened, and of such intellectual power, as the descendants of the New England Pil
grims, and the inhabitants generally of our extensive country.
Although the wide diffusion of knowledge is preferable to its convergence into a few
points of splendor, yet America can boast of names of eminence in the arts and in various
departments of science, and can speak of her sons of inventive power, of metaphysical
acuteness, of philosophical discovery, of profound learning, and thrilling eloquence, and
especially of a multitude skilled in the knowledge and the maintenance of the rights of
man. Happy will it be for our country, if ancient wisdom, and patriotism, and piety shall
not, in a future race, dwindle down into the hunger for office, and the violence of party,
and the cheerlessness of infidelity.
This body of American Biography will be found to comprise the first SETTLERS and
FATHERS of our country ; early NAVIGATORS, and adventurous TRAVELLERS ; the
STATESMEN, PATRIOTS, and HEROES, who have contended for American liberty, or
assisted in laying the foundations of our republican iustitutions ; all the SIGNERS of the
Declaration of Independence ; brave and skilful MILITARY and NAVAL COMMANDERS ;
many of the GOVERNORS of the several States, and the deceased PRESIDENTS of our
country ; profound LAWYERS, and skilful PHYSICIANS ; men of GENIUS, LEARNING, and
SCIENCE, and the distinguished FRIENDS and PATRONS of LEARNING; THEOLOGIANS
and HISTORIANS, POETS and ORATORS ; ingenious ARTISTS, and men celebrated for their
INVENTIONS ; together with many eminent PHILANTHROPISTS and CHRISTIANS, whose
examples have diffused a cheering radiance around them.
The author, in conclusion, cannot avoid expressing the wish that, as the reader surveys
the lives of such men, the commendable zeal which animated them may come upon his
own soul, and that he may help to bear up the honors of a country which has been the
abode of a race of enlightened, noble-minded, disinterested, and virtuous men.
BRUNSWICK, MAINE, July 17, 1832.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
THE reprint of the Prefaces to the two former editions — the first dated forty-eight
years ago, and the second twenty-five years — renders unnecessary any new remarks on
the design and importance of such a collection of general American biography, as is fur
nished by this book ; which was, in fact, the first work of the kind ever published, and is
now the only general and exclusively American biography to which the inquirer has access.
The only change in the plan is the omission of the brief histories of the several States,
which histories might have been useful and convenient many years ago, but "which, at the
present day, with the great increase of the number of the States, and the rapid growth of
the various interests of the country, should give way to fuller and more copious and satis
factory historical accounts. This work is therefore now purely biography ; and, instead of
" An American Biographical and Historical Dictionary," the title is now " The American
Biographical Dictionary."
This book of American biography has not been superseded nor approached in value by
any book of the kind which has been published. Without referring again to such books as
were mentioned in the second preface, I may allude to two general biographies which have
been recently printed, namely : Appletons' Cyclopaedia of Biography, and Blake's General
Biography. They each include in one volume both foreign and American, chiefly foreign,
and only in small part American, biography. While they may have each ten or twelve thou
sand foreign names, the former has only about one thousand, and the latter about two
thousand, American names; but my book has, of the distinguished men of our country, the
great number of six thousand seven hundred seventy-five, exceeding the largest of these
two books by about four thousand seven hundred American names. And my whole book
of nine hundred pages, in two columns, royal octavo, is made up, not chiefly of foreigners,
but of ALL AMERICANS. Moreover, I may be permitted to add, my articles are not shallow
abridgments of my second edition, but full and ample accounts, including a list of the
writings of each person. If the Appletons' book gives one page of letter type to Wash
ington, my own book gives to our greatest man twelve pages ; if that book gives to Rev.
Dr. John M. Mason, of New York, eight lines, mine gives to him a page and a half; if
that book gives to John Adams half a page, mine gives to him six pages. Such will often
be found the proportion in the articles, without referring to such a case as Rev. Dr. Morse,
the father of American geography, who has one line, while in my book he has nearly half
a page ; such the abridgment to which my book has been subjected.
I can truly say of my book, that it is my own labor of half a century, during which
period I have been gleaning from the wide field of American history, and from an immense
multitude of journals, papers, and memorials of the dead, aided also by the contribution of
facts from the friends of the deceased. I have introduced many anecdotes, for they often
combine useful and important instruction with amusement. I have attempted truly to
describe all characters ; and, in following the pathway of truth, I have not invested men
with excellencies which do not belong to them, nor regarded with equal favor contradictory
systems of faith and irreconcilable principles of conduct. As an honest man, not deprived
(viii)
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. IX
of intelligence nor void of benevolence, I have, as I think, known how to censure as well
as to praise.
The first edition contained an account of more than seven hundred deceased Americans,
the second of more than eighteen hundred, which large number, in the present edition,
brought down to the present time, is more than trebled ; so that in this book may be
found an account of nearly seven thousand Americans, of some note and worthiness of
being remembered. And how vast must be the number of American citizens, spread
over our wide country, who may find here recorded the names of their own ancestors,
which, elsewhere, they may not be able to find ?
If, as a reviewer regarded this book, when, many years ago, the second edition was pub
lished, it was " one of that class of books which may be reckoned as among the necessaries
of literary life, the implements of study," and if " this work should be in the hands, or at
least within the reach, of every literary and professional man throughout the country ; "
then, at the present time, after the lapse of a quarter of a century, this greatly enlarged
book cannot be less necessary and important.
It must be wanted, if I mistake not, by our statesmen ; it must be wanted by every
minister of the gospel, of whatever denomination ; it must be wanted in every school and
town library. That the print is fair and easy to the eye, every reader will perceive ; and
I rejoice that my publishers present this work to the lovers of American biography in a
form which must be satisfactory to their wishes, associating nothing of meanness or nar
rowness with this memorial of the mighty dead of our country.
Intelligent, patriotic inquirers concerning the lives of their predecessors may here obtain
the information which, unaided by this book, it might be impossible for them to procure ;
and which they certainly will not find in the books, whether called dictionaries or cyclo
paedias, containing abridgments of my condensed biography. The author of one of them had
indeed the grace to ask of me permission to abridge my second edition for his own purposes, —
a request which I could not grant. The use which, without my consent, has been actually
made of my book, by way of abridgment or abstracts, will, I hope, create a thirst for the
more copious biography, to be found in this book. It may be added, that this biographical
book will not — like many other works which have only a temporary interest — be liable
to become antiquated by years ; for the memory of the worthy dead, the memory of the
fathers, will ever be cherished and fresh in the American heart. The Pilgrims who landed
on the rock of Plymouth were never so reverenced as they are now.
It is rare that an author is permitted to superintend the publication of a book, the first
edition of which he published nearly half a century before. To the kind Providence
which has preserved my life, I offer my grateful acknowledgments ; and, as my age and
my labors in this book of record, which speaks of the dead, have rendered my thoughts
familiar with death, I may be allowed, lastly, to utter the prayer for the readers of this
work, that God will give us, at the moment of our departure from the earth, the peace and
triumph often given, as here recorded, to his Christian servants ; and that, when we shall
meet in a great company of hundreds of millions of revivified men of all countries, He will
grant that we may meet as fellow-sharers in the unutterable blessings revealed in the
gospel of his Son, whose death has made atonement for our sins, and by whose teach
ing and resurrection " life and immortality have been brought to light."
NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS, May 1, 1857.
THE AMERICAN
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
ABBOT, HULL, a respectable minister of
Charlestown, Mass., was graduated at Harvard
College in the year 1720, and ordained Feb. 5,
1724, as colleague with Mr. Bradstreet. After
continuing fifty years in the ministry, he died
April 19, 1774, aged 80 years. He published
the following sermons : on the artillery election,
1735; on the rebellion in Scotland, 1746; against
cm-sing and swearing, 1747.
ABBOT, SAMUEL, one of the founders of the
Theological Seminary at Andover, died in that
town, of which he was a native, April 30, 1812,
aged 80. He had been a merchant in Boston.
His donation for establishing the Seminary, August
31, 1807, was 20,000 dollars; he also bequeathed
to it more than 100,000 dollars. He was a
humble, conscientious, and pious man, remark
able for prudence, sincerity, and uprightness;
charitable to the poor, and zealous for the inter
ests of religion. He bestowed several thousands
of dollars for the relief of ministers of the gospel
and for other charitable objects. It was a
maxim with him, " to praise no one in his
presence and to dispraise no one in his absence."
In his last sickness he enjoyed a peace, which the
world cannot give. " I desire to live," he said,
" if God has any thing more for me to do or to
suffer." When near his end he said, "there is
enough in God; I want nothing but God." He
left a widow, with whom he had lived more than
fifty years, and one son. — Woods1 Funeral Ser
mon ; Panoplist, Till. 337.
ABBOT, ABIEL, D. 1)., a minister in Beverly,
Mass., was born at Andover Aug. 17, 1770, and
graduated at Harvard College in 1787, having an
unstained character and a high rank as a scholar.
After being an assistant teacher in the Academy
at Andover, and studying theology with Mr.
French, he was settled about 1794 as the minister
of Ilaverhill, where he continued eight years.
An inadequate support for his family induced him
to ask a dismission, though with great reluctance.
He was soon afterwards, about 1802, settled in
Beverly, as the successor of Mr. McKecu, who had
been chosen president of Bowdoin College. The
remainder of his life, about twenty-four years, was
passed in Beverly in his ministerial office, except
Avhen his labors were interrupted by sickness.
He passed the winter of 1827-1828 in and near
Charleston, S. C., for the recovery of his health.
Early in Feb., 1828, he embarked for Cuba,
where he continued three months, exploring
different parts of the island, and making a dili
gent record of Ms observations in letters to his
family and friends. On his return, he sailed from
the pestilential city of Havana, with his health
almost restored. He preached at Charleston,
June 1, and the next day sailed for New York.
But, although able to go on deck in the morning,
he died at noon, June 7th, just as the vessel came
to anchor at the quarantine ground near the city
of New York, and was buried on Statcn Island.
It is probable, that he was a victim to the yellow
fever, the contagion of which he received at Ha
vana. — Dr. Abbot was. very courteous and inter
esting in social intercourse, and was eloquent in
preaching. His religious sentiments are not
particularly explained by his biographer, who
says, that he belonged " to no sect but that of
good men." Happy are all they, who belong to
that sect. He seems to have been, in his last
days, extremely solicitous on the subject of reli
gious controversy. In the love of peace all good
men will agree with him, and doubtless there has
been much controversy concerning unimportant
points, conducted too in an unchristian spirit ; but,
in this world of error, it is not easy to imagine
how controversy is to be avoided. If the truth
is assailed, it would seem, that those who love it,
should engage in its vindication ; for men always
defend against unjust assault what they deem
valuable. Besides, if an intelligent and benevo
lent man thinks his neighbor has fallen into a
dangerous mistake, why should he not, in a
friendly debate, endeavor to set him right ? Es
pecially ought the preachers of truth to recom
mend it to others, with meekness indeed and in
love, but with all the energy which its relation to
(1)
ABBOT.
ABERNETHEY.
human happiness demands. When this is done,
the enemies of the truth, by resisting it, will pre
sent to the world the form of religious dissension.
If infidels endeavor to subvert the foundations
of Christianity ; if corrupt heretics deny the plain
doctrines of the gospel ; if bewildered enthusiasts
bring forward their whims and fancies as doc
trines revealed from heaven ; shall the dread of
controversy prevent the exposure of their false
reasonings, their presumptuous comments, and
their delusive and perilous imaginations ? — Since
the death of Dr. Abbot and the settlement of his
Unitarian successor, many of the congregation
have withdrawn and connected themselves with
the Second Church and Society. — His interesting
and valuable letters from Cuba were published
after his death, Svo., Boston, 1829. lie published
also artillery election sermon, 1802; sermons to
mariners, 1812; address on intemperance, 1815;
sermon before the Salem Missionary Society, 1816 ;
before the Bible Society of Salem, 1817; conven
tion sermon, 1827. — Flint's Sermon; Sketch in
Letters from Cuba.
ABBOT, Jonx, died at Andover, the place of
his birth, July 2, 1843, aged 84. He graduated
at Harvard in 1754, was the first professor of
languages at Bowdoin College, and for many years
its librarian and treasurer.
ABBOT, BENJAMIN, LL. I)., brother of the
preceding, graduated at Harvard in 1788, and
died in Exeter Oct. 25, 1849, aged 87. From
1788 to 1838 he was the highly respected prin
cipal of Phillips' Exeter Academy. Many emi
nent men were his pupils ; and, on his retire
ment in 1838, they united in a testimonial to his
merits.
ABBOT, JACOB, died at Farmington, Me., Jan.
25, 1847, aged 70 — a worthy and useful man, the
father of distinguished sons, Jacob, John, Gor-
ham, and Charles. He was a native of Andover :
for many years he lived in Brunswick. His sons
write the family name, Abbott.
ABBOT, SAMUEL, was born in Wilton, X. II.,
in 178G, graduated at Harvard in 1808, and died
in 1839. He invented the process of extracting
and clarifying strach from the potato.
ABBOT, JOHN EMERY, a minister in Salem ;
died in 1819, aged 26. He was a graduate of
Bowdoin in 1810. His sermons, with a memoir
by II. Ware, were published in 1829.
ABEEL, JOHN NELSON, I). IX, an eloquent
preacher, graduated at Princeton College in 1787.
He relinquished the study of the law, Avhich he
had commenced under Judge Patterson, and pur
sued the study of divinity with Dr. Livingston.
He was licensed to preach in April, 1793. After
being for a short time a minister of a Presby
terian church in Philadelphia, he was in 1795
installed as pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church
in the city of New York. He died Jan. 20, 1812,
in the 43d year of his age, deeply lamented on
account of his unassuming, amiable manners, and
his eloquence as a preacher of the gospel. With
a discriminating mind, and a sweet and melo
dious voice, and his soul inflamed with pious zeal,
he was pre-eminent among extemporaneous ora
tors. In performing his various pastoral duties
he was indefatigable. — Gunn's Funeral Sermon.
ABEEL, DAVID, missionary to China, died at
Albany, Sept. 4, 1846, aged about 40. He em
barked at New York, and arrived at Canton Feb.
19, 1830, and at Bankok in 1831. From 1833 to
1839 he was from ill health in the United States,
but returned to Canton in 1839. In 1842 he
commenced a mission at Amoy. Ill health com
pelled his return to America in 1845. He was
first a preacher to seamen at Canton ; then a
useful, respected, and important missionary.
ABEPcCIlOMBIE, JAMES, a British major-gen
eral, took the command of the troops assembled
at Albany in June, 1756, bringing over with him
two regiments. It was proposed to attack Crown
Point, Niagara, and Fort Du Quesne. But some
difficulty as to the rank of the provincial troops
occasioned delay, and in August the Earl of
Loudoun took the command. The capture of
Oswego by Montcalm disarranged the projected
campaign. In 1757 Montcalm took Fort Wil
liam Henry ; and thus the French commanded
all the lakes. The British spirit was now roused.
Mr. Pitt in 1758 placed 50,000 troops under the
command of Abercrombie, determined to recover
the places which had been captured by the
French, and also to capture Louisbourg. Aber
crombie, at the head of 15,000 men, proceeded
against Ticonderoga, which he assaulted injudi
ciously and unsuccessfully, July 8th, with the loss
of nearly 2,000 men, killed, wounded, and missing.
He then retired to his intrenched camp on the
south side of Lake George. An expedition which
he sent out against Fort Frontenac, under Col.
Bradstrect, was successful. He was soon super
seded by Amherst, who the next year recovered
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and captured
Quebec. — Marshall, I. 4 C 2-3 6 ; Holmes, II. 82.
Manic, 59, 107, 144, 161.
ABEKCKOMBIE, JAMES, I). D., died at Phil
adelphia, June 26, 1841, aged 83, the oldest Epis
copal minister in the city. He had been a teacher
of youth, and was a venerable divine.
ABE11NETIIEY, HOBF.RT, M. D., died in
Woodbury, Conn., Sept. 24, 1851, aged 77. He
was the son of Dr. William A., of Harwinton,
and practised physic in Woodbury for 25 vears.
He was a man of distinction, and the delight of
his friends ; also a man of religion, a worthy pro
fessor for 46 years, loving the house of God and
the assembly of Christians for conference and
prayer. His son, John J. A., is a surgeon in the
navv.
ACKLAXD.
ADAMS.
ACKLAXD, Jonx D., major, a British offi
cer, was at the head of the grenadiers on the
left, in the action near Stillwater, Oct. 7, 1777.
lie bravely sustained the attack ; but, overpow
ered by numbers, the British were obliged to
retreat to their camp, which was instantly stormed
by Arnold. In this action, Major Ackland was
shot through the legs, and taken prisoner. — He
was discovered and protected by Wilkinson. His
devoted wife, in the utmost distress, sought him
in the American cam]), favored with a letter from
Burgoync to Gates. — After his return to England,
Major Ackland, in a dispute with Lieut. Lloyd,
defended the Americans against the charge of
cowardice, and gave him the lie direct. A duel
followed, in which Ackland was shot through the
head. Lady Harriet, his wife, in consequence
lost her senses for two years ; but she afterwards
married Mr. Brudenell, who accompanied her
from the camp at Saratoga in her perilous pursuit
of her husband. When will there cease to be
victims to private combat and public war ? It
will be, when the meek and benevolent spirit of
the gospel shall universally reign in the hearts
of men. — Remembrancer for 1777, p. 461, 465;
Wilkinson's Memoirs, 269, 376.
ADAIIl, JAMES, a trader with the Indians of
the Southern States, resided in their country forty
years. From 1735, he lived almost exclusively in
intercourse with the Indians, cut off from the
society of his civilized brethren, chiefly among
the Chickasaws, with whom he first traded in
1744. His friends persuaded him to publish a
work, which he had prepared with much labor,
entitled, " The History of the American Indians ;
particularly those nations adjoining the Missis
sippi, East and West; Florida, Georgia, South
and North Carolina, and Virginia. London, 4to,
177,3." In this book he points out various cus
toms of the Indians, having a striking resemblance
to those of the Jews. His arguments to prove
them descended from the Jews are founded on
their division into tribes ; their worship of Je
hovah ; their festivals, fasts, and religious rites ;
their daily sacrifice ; their prophets and high
priests ; their cities of refuge ; their marriages
and divorces ; their burial of the dead, and
mourning for them ; their language and choice
of names adapted to circumstances ; their manner
of reckoning time ; and various other particulars.
Some distrust seems to have fallen upon his
statements, although he says that his account is
"neither disfigured by fable nor prejudice." Dr.
Boudinot, in his " Star in the West," has adopted
the opinions of Aclair.
AD AIR, JOHN, general, died May 19, 1840,
aged ,82, at Harrodsburg, Ky. He was a soldier in
the early north-western wars, and commanded the
Kentucky troops at Xew Orleans in 1814. He
was a senator in 180,3, and a representative in
congress in 1831.
ADAMS, WILLIAM, the second minister of
Dedham, was the son of W. A., and born in
16*30, at Ipswich : he died Aug. 17, 1685, aged
35. He graduated in 1671, and was ordained as
Mr. Allen's successor, Dec. 3, 1673. By his first
wife, Mary Manning of Cambridge, he had three
children, one of whom was Rev. Eliphalet A.
His second wife was Alice Bradford, daughter of
William B., and grand-daughter of Gov. Brad
ford, of Plymouth ; by her he had Elizabeth,
who married, at the age of fifteen, Rev. S.
Whiting, of Windham, afterwards Rev. S. Niles ;
Alice, who married Rev. N. Collins, of Enfield ;
William ; and Abial, born after his death, who
married Rev. J. Metcalf, of Falmouth. His
widow married James Fitch. He published a
fast sermon, 1679; an election sermon, 1685.
ADAMS, ELIHIALET, son of the preceding,
an eminent minister of New London, Conn., was
graduated at Harvard College in 1694. He was
ordained Feb. 9, 1709, and died Oct. 4, 1753,
aged 76. Dr. Chauncey speaks of him as a great
Hebrician. — His son William, graduated at Yale
in 1730, and died in 1798, having been a preacher
sixty years, but never settled nor married ; he
published a thanksgiving sermon, 1760. — He pub
lished a sermon, 1706, on the death of Rev. James
Noyes of Stonington ; election sermons, 1710 and
1783 ; a discourse occasioned by a storm, March
3, 1717; a thanksgiving sermon, 1721; a sermon
on the death of Gov. Saltonstall, 1724; at the
ordination of William Gager, Lebanon. May 27,
1725; of Thomas Clap, Windham, 1726; and a
discourse before young men, 1727.
ADAMS, JOHN, a poet, was the only son of
John Adams, of Nova Scotia, and was graduated
at Harvard College in 1721. He was settled in
the ministry at Newport, R. I., April 11, 1728, in
opposition to the wishes of Mr. Clap, who was
pastor. Mr. Clap's friends formed a new society,
and Mr. Adams was dismissed in about two
years. He died at Cambridge in Jan., 1740,
at the age of 36, deeply lamented by his ac
quaintance. He was much distinguished for his
learning, genius, and piety. As a preacher he
was much esteemed. His uncle, Matthew Ad
ams, describes him as " master of nine languages,"
and conversant with the most famous Greek,
Latin, Italian, French, and Spanish authors, as
well as with the noblest English writers. He
also speaks of Ms " great and undissembled piety,
which ran, like a vein of gold, through all his
life and performances." — He published a sermon
on his ordination, 1728, and a poem on the love
of money. A small volume of his poems was
I published at Boston, in 1745, which contains imi-
I tations and paraphrases of several portions of
Scripture, translations from Horace, and the
whole book of Revelation in heroic verse, to
gether with original piece's. The versification is
ADAMS.
ADAMS.
remarkably harmonious for the period and the
country. Mr. Adams' productions evince a lively
fancy, and breathe a pious strain. The following
is an extract from his poem on Cotton Mather :
" What numerous volumes scattered from his hand,
Lightened his own, and warmed each foreign land?
What pious breathings of a glowing soul
Live in each page, and animate the whole?
The breath of heaven the savory pages show,
As we Arabia from its spices know.
Ambitious, active, towering was his soul,
But flaming piety inspired the whole."
— Mass. Magazine for April, 1789; Backus'
Hist. Abridged, 158; Preface to his Poems;
Specimens of American Poetry, I. 67.
ADAMS, MATTHEW, a distinguished writer in
Boston, though a mechanic or " tradesman," yet
had a handsome collection of books, and culti
vated literature. Dr. Franklin acknowledges his
obligations for access to his library. He was one
of the writers of the Essays in the New England
Journal. He died poor, but with a reputation
more durable than an estate, in 1733. — His son,
Her. John Adams, a graduate of 1745, was the
minister of Durham, N. II., from 1748 to 1778.
By a grant of 400 acres of land, he was induced
to remove to the small plantation of Washington,
or Xewfield, county of York, Me., having only
five families, in Feb., 1781. Here he passed
the remainder of his life, preaching and prac
tising physic in Newfield, Limington, Parsons-
field, and Limerick, till his death, June 4, 1792,
aged GO. He was .subject, occasionally, to a deep
depression of feeling ; and, at other times, was
borne away by a sudden excitement, which gave
animation to his preaching. A fine letter from
Durham to the town of Boston in 1774, with a
donation, was written by him. — Eliot : Green-
Icuf's Ecclesiastical History of Maine, 113.
ADAMS, AMOS, minister of Itoxbury, Mass.,
was graduated at Harvard College, in 1752. He
was ordained as successor to Mr. Peabody, Sept.
12, 1753, and died at Dorchester, Oct. 5, 1775, aged
47, of the dysentery, which prevailed in the camp
at Cambridge and Roxbury. His son, Thomas
Adams, was ordained in Boston as minister for
Camdcn, S. C., where, after a residence of eight
years, he died Aug. 16, 1797.
Mr. Adams, in early life, devoted himself to
the service of his Redeemer ; and he continued
his benevolent labors as a preacher of the gospel
with unabated vigor till his death. He was fer
vent in devotion ; and his discourses, always ani
mated by a lively and expressive action, were
remarkably calculated to warm the heart. He
was steadfast in his principles, and umvearied in
industry.
lie published the following sermons : On the
death of Lucy Dudley, 1756; at the artillery
election, 1759; on a thanksgiving for the reduc
tion of Quebec, 1759; at the ordination of S.
Kingsbury, Edgartown, Xov. 25, 1761 ; at the
ordination of John "\Vyeth, Gloucester, Feb. 5,
1766; the only hope and refuge of sinners, 1767 ;
two discourses on religious liberty, 1767 ; a view
of New England, in two discourses on the fast,
April 6, 1769; sermons at the ordination of Jon
athan Moore, Rochester, Sept. 25, 1768, and of
Caleb Prentice, Reading, Oct. 25, 1769. He
preached the Dudleian lecture of Harvard Col
lege in 1770, entitled, " Diocesan Episcopacy, as
founded on the supposed Episcopacy of Timothy
and Titus, subverted." This work is a specimen
of the learning of the writer. It is lodged in
manuscript in the library of the college.
ADAMS, JOSEPH, minister of Newington, N.
H., was graduated at Harvard College in 1710,
was ordained in 1715, and died in 1783, aged
almost 95, — a descendant of Henry A., of Quincy.
He preached till just before his death. He pub
lished a sermon on the death of John Fabian,
1757; and a sermon on the necessity of rulers
exerting themselves against the growth of im
piety, 1760.
ADAMS, ZABDIEL, minister of Lunenburg,
Mass., was born in Braintree, now Quincy, Nov. 5,
1739. His father was the uncle of John Adams.
He was graduated at Harvard College in 1759,
having made while in that seminary great profi
ciency in learning, and much improved the vigor
ous powers of mind with which he was endued.
He was ordained Sept. 5, 1764, and died March
1, 1801, in the 62d year of his age, and 37th
of his ministry.
Mr. Adams was eminent as a preacher of the
gospel, often explaining the most important doc
trines in a rational and scriptural manner, and
enforcing them with plainness and pungency.
His language was nervous ; and, while in his
public performances he gave instruction, he also
imparted pleasure. In his addresses to the throne
of grace he was remarkable for pertinency of
thought and readiness of utterance. Though by
bodily constitution he was liable to irritation, yet
he treasured no ill will in his bosom. His heart
was easily touched by the afflictions of others, and
his sympathy and benevolence prompted him to
administer relief, when in his power. About the
year 1774 he wrote a pamphlet, maintaining,
without authority from the platform of 1648, that
a pastor has a negative upon the proceedings of
the Church. Some ministers, who embraced his
principles, lost by consequence their parishes.
He preached the Dudleian lecture on Presbyterian
ordination in 1794. — He published a sermon on
church music, 1771; on Christian unity, 1772;
the election sermon, 1782; on the 19th of April,
1783 ; at the ordination of Enoch Whipplc, 1788.
— Whitney's Funeral Sermon.
ADAMS, ANDREW, LL. D., chief justice of
Connecticut, was appointed to that place in 1793,
ADAMS.
ADAMS.
having been upon the bench with reputation as a '
judge from 1789. He was a native of Stratford,
a graduate of Yale College in 1760, and a mem
ber of Congress about the year 1782. He re
sided at Litclificld, and died Nov. 26, 1797, aged
61 years.
ADAMS, SAMUEL, governor of Massachusetts,
and a most distinguished patriot in the American
Revolution, was born in Boston Sept. 16, O. S.,
1722. His father, Samuel, the son of John and
Hannah A., was born in 1689, and died in 1747,
whose wife was Mary Fifield. Mr. S. A. married
in 1749 Elizabeth, daughter of Ilev. S. Checkley ;
and his second wife in 1764, Elizabeth, daughter of
Francis Wells. He was graduated at Harvard
College in 1740. When he commenced master of
arts in 1743, he proposed the following question
for discussion : " Whether it be lawful to resist the
supreme magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot
otherwise be preserved ? " He maintained the
affirmative, and thus early showed his attachment
to the liberties of the people.
Early distinguished by talents as a writer, his
first attempts were proofs of his filial piety. By
his efforts he preserved the estate of his father,
which had been attached on account of an engage
ment in the land bank bubble. He was known
as a political writer during the administration of
Shirley, to which he was opposed, as he thought
the union of so much civil and military power in
one man was dangerous. His ingenuity, wit, and
profound argument are spoken of with the high
est respect by those, who were contemporary with
him. Ac this early period he laid the founda
tion of public confidence and esteem. His first
office of tax-gatherer made him acquainted with
every shipwright and mechanic in Boston, and
over their minds he ever retained a powerful in
fluence. From this employment the enemies of
liberty styled him Samuel, the Publican.
In 176.5 he was elected a member of the Gen
eral Assembly of Massachusetts, in the place of
Oxenbridge Thachcr, deceased. He was soon
chosen clerk, and he gradually acquired influence
in the Legislature. This was an eventful time.
But Mr. Adams possessed a courage, which no
dangers could shake. He was undismayed by
the prospect, which struck terror into the hearts
of many. He was a member of the Legislature
nearly ten years, and he was the soul, which ani
mated it to the most important resolutions. No
man did so much. He pressed his measures with
ardor; yet he was prudent; he knew how to
bend the passions of others to his purpose. Gov.
Hutchinsou relates that, at a town meeting in
1769, an objection having been made to a motion
because it implied an independency of parlia
ment, Mr. Adams, then a representative, con
cluded his speech with these words : " Independ
ent we arc, and independent we will be." He
represents, too, that Mr. Adams, by a defalcation
as collector, had injured his character ; but he
adds : " The benefit to the town from his defence
of their liberties he supposed an equivalent to
his arrears as their collector." As a political
writer he deemed him the most artful and insin
uating of all men, whom he ever knew, and the
most successful in " robbing men of their char
acters," or "calumniating governors, and other
servants of the crown."
When the charter was dissolved, he was chosen
a member of the Provincial Convention. In 1774
he was elected a member of the General Con
gress. In this station, in which he remained a
number of years, he rendered the most impor
tant services to his country. His eloquence was
adapted to the times, in which he lived. The
energy of his language corresponded with the
firmness and vigor of his mind. His heart
glowed with the feeh'ngs of a patriot, and his
eloquence was simple, majestic, and persuasive.
He was one of the most efficient members of
Congress. He possessed keen penetration, un
shaken fortitude, and permanent decision. Gor
don speaks of him in 1774 as having for a long
time whispered to his confidential friends, that
this country must be independent. Walking in
the fields, the day after the battle of Lexing
ton, he said to a friend : " It is a fine day, — I
mean, this day is a glorious day for America."
He deemed the blow to be struck, which would
lead to independence. In the last official act
of the British government in Massachusetts he
was proscribed with John Hancock, when a gen
eral pardon was offered to all who had rebelled.
This act Avas dated June 12, 1775, and it teaches
Americans what they owe to the denounced
patriot.
In 1776 he united with Franklin, J. Adams,
Hancock, Jefferson, and a host of worthies in
declaring the United States no longer an ap
pendage to a monarchy, but free and independent.
When the constitution of Massachusetts was
adopted, he was chosen a member of the Senate,
of which body he was elected president. He
was soon sent to the western counties to quiet a
disturbance, which was rising, and he was suc
cessful in his mission. He was a member of the
convention for examining the constitution of the
United States. He made objections to several
of its provisions; but his principal objection was
to that article, which rendered the several States
amenable to the courts of the nation. He thought
this reduced them to mere corporations ; that the
sovereignty of each would be dissolved ; and that
a consolidated government, supported by an
army, would be the consequence. The consti
tution was afterwards altered in this point, and
in most other respects according to his wishes.
In 1789 he was chosen lieutenant-governor,
6
ADAMS.
and was continued in this office till 1794, when
he was elected governor, as successor to Mr.
Hancock. He was annually replaced in the chair
of the first magistrate of Massachusetts till 1797,
when his age and infirmities induced him to retire
from public life. He died Oct. 2, 1803, in the
8l2d year of his age. His only son, of the same
name, was born in 1751, graduated at Harvard
College in 1770, and, after studying under Dr.
Joseph Warren, served his country as a surgeon
during the war. lleturning home with a broken
constitution, he at length died Jan. 17, 1788.
The avails of his claims for services in the army
gave his father a competency in liis declining
years.
The leading traits in the character of Mr. Ad
ams were an unconquerable love of liberty, in
tegrity, firmness, and decision. Some acts of his
administration as chief magistrate were censured,
though all allowed, that his motives were pure.
A division in political sentiments at that time
existed, and afterwards increased. When he dif
fered from the majority, he acted with great inde
pendence. At the close of the Avar he opposed
peace with Great Britain, unless the Northern
States retained their full privileges in the fisheries.
In 1787 he advised the execution of the condign
punishment, to which the leaders of the rebellion
in 1786 had been sentenced. It was his settled
judgment, that in a republic, depending for its
existence upon the intelligence and virtue of the
people, the law should be rigidly enforced. At
tached to the old confederation, he often gave as
a toast — " The States united, and the States
separated." He was opposed to the treaty with
Great Britain, made by Mr. Jay in 1794, and he
put his election to hazard by avowing his dislike
of it. The three topics, on which lie delighted to
dwell, were British thraldom, the manners, laws,
and customs of New England, and the impor
tance of common schools.
Mr. Adams was a man of incorruptible integ
rity. Gov. Hutchinson, in answer to the inquiry
" Why Mr. Adams was not taken off from his
opposition by an office ? " writes to a friend in
1 '.•,!"•! -uid, "Such is the obstinacy and inflexible
disposition of the man, that he never can be con
ciliated by any office or gift whatever."
He was poor. While occupied abroad in the
most important and responsible public duties, the
partner of his cares supported the family at home
by her industry. Though his resources were very
small, yet, such were the economy and dignity of
his house, that those, who visited him, found
nothing mean or unbecoming his station. His
country, to whose interests he devoted his life,
permitted him to remain poor ; but there were
not wanting a few friends, who showed him their
regard. In this honorable poverty he continued
to a. very late period of his life; and had not a
ADAMS.
decent competency fallen into his hands by the
very afflicting event of the death of an only son,
he must have depended for subsistence upon the
kindness of his friends, or the charity of the
public.
To a majestic countenance and dignified man
ners there was added a suavity of temper, which
conciliated the affection of his acquaintance. Some,
Avho disapproved of his political conduct, loved
and revered him as a neighbor and friend. He
could readily relax from severer cares and studies
to enjoy the pleasures of private conversation.
Though somewhat reserved among strangers, yet
with his friends he was cheerful and compan
ionable, a lover of chaste wit, and remarkably
fond of anecdote. He faithfully discharged the
duties arising from the relations of social life.
His house was the seat of domestic peace, regu
larity, and method.
Mr. Adams was a Christian. His mind was
early imbued with piety, as well as cultivated by
science. He early approached the table of the
Lord Jesus, and the purity of his life witnessed
the sincerity of his profession. On the Christian
Sabbath he constantly went to the temple ; and
the morning and evening devotions in his family
proved, that his religion attended him in his sea
sons of retirement from the world. His senti
ments were strictly Calvinistic. The platform of
the New England churches he deemed an ample
guide in all matters of ecclesiastical discipline
and order. The last production of his pen was
in favor of Christian truth. He died in the faith
| of the gospel.
He was a sage and a patriot. The independ
ence of the United States of America is perhaps
to be attributed as much to his exertions, as to
the exertions of any one man. Though he was
called to struggle with adversity, he was never
discouraged. He was consistent and firm under
the cruel neglect of a friend and the malignant
rancor of an enemy; comforting himself in the
darkest seasons with reflections upon the wisdom
and goodness of God.
Mr. John Adams speaks of him in the follow
ing terms : " The talents and virtues of that great
man were of the most exalted, though not of the
most showy land. His love of his country, his
exertions in her service through a long course of
years, through the administrations of the gov
ernors Shirley, Pownall, Bernard, Ilutchinson,
and Gage, under the royal government and
through the whole of the subsequent revolution,
and always in support of the same principles ;
his inflexible integrity, his disinterestedness, his
invariable resolution, his sagacity, his patience,
perseverance, and pure public virtue were not
exceeded by any man's in America. A collection
of his writings would be as curious as voluminous.
It would throw light upon American history for
ADAMS.
ADAMS.
fifty years. In it would be found specimens of a
nervous simplicity of reasoning and eloquence,
that have never been rivalled in America."
His writings exist only in the perishable col
umns of a newspaper or pamphlet. In his more
advanced life, in the year 1790, a few letters
passed between him and John Adams, in which
the principles of government are discussed ; and
there seems to have been some difference of sen
timent between those eminent patriots and states
men, who had toiled together through the Revo-
lution. Tlus correspondence was published in
1800. An oration, which Mr. Adams delivered
at the State House in Philadelphia Aug. 1, 177G,
was published. The object is to support Ameri
can Independence, the declaration of which by
Congress had been made a short time before.
He opposes kingly government and hereditary
succession with warmth and energy. Not long
before liis death he addressed a letter to Paine,
expressing his disapprobation of that unbeliever's
attempts to injure the cause of Christianity. —
Thachcr's Sermon; Sullivan's character of him
in public papers ; Polyanthos, in. 73-82 ; Gor
don, I. 347, 410; BYissot, Nouv. Voy., I. 151;
Thacker's Medical Biography ; Ilutchinson's
Last History, 265 ; Eliot's Biographical Dic
tionary ; Encyclopaedia Americana, and liees.
ADAMS, Joiix, president of the United States,
was born at Braintrec, Mass., Oct. 19, 1735, O.S.,
or Oct. 30th, present style. His father, John,
was a deacon of the church, a farmer, and a
mechanic, and died May 25, 1761, aged 69; his
grandfather, Joseph, died Feb. 12, 1737, aged
82 ; his great-grandfather, Joseph, was born in
England, and died at Braintrce Dec. 6, 1697,
aged 03 ; the father of this ancestor was Henry,
who, as the inscription on his monument, erected
by John Adams, says, " took his flight from the
Dragon Persecution, in Devonshire, England, and
alighted with eight sons near Mount Wollaston."
Of these sons four removed to Medfield and the
neighboring towns, and two to Chclmsford. The
year of Henry's arrival at Braintree, now Quincy,
is not known, but is supposed to be 1632 ; he
died Oct. 8, 1646. His ancestry has been traced
up six or seven hundred years to John Ap Adam,
of the Marches of Wales.
John Adams, while a member of Harvard Col
lege, where he was graduated in 1755, Avas dis
tinguished by diligence in his studies, by boldness
of thought, and by the powers of his mind.
While he studied law at Worcester with Col.
James Putnam, an able lawyer in extensive prac
tice, from 1755 to 1758, he instructed pupils in
Latin and Greek, as a means of subsistence.
At this early period he had imbibed a prejudice
against the prevailing religious opinions of New
England, and became attached to speculations
hostile to those opinions. Nor were his views
afterwards changed. Perhaps the religious sen
timents of most men become settled at as early a
period of their lives. If therefore the cherished
views of Christianity have any relation to prac
tice and to one's destiny hereafter; with what
sobriety, candor, and diligence, and with what
earnestness of prayer for light and guidance from
above ought every young man to investigate re
vealed truth ? In April, 1756, he was deliberating
as to his profession. Some friends advised him
to study theology. In a few months afterwards
he fixed upon the profession of law. He had
not " the highest opinion of what is called Or
thodoxy." He had known a young man, worthy
of the best parish, despised for being suspected
of Arminianism. He was more desirous of being
an eminent, honorable lawyer, than of " heading
the whole army of Orthodox preachers." In a
letter to Dr. Morse in 1815 he says : " Sixty-five
years ago my own minister, Rev. Lemuel Bryant ;
Dr. Mayhew, of the West Church in Boston ;
Rev. Mr. Shute, of Hingham ; Rev. John Brown,
of Cohasset ; and perhaps equal to all, if not
above all, Rev. Mr. Gay, of Hingham, were Uni
tarians. Among the laity how many could I
name, lawyers, physicians, tradesmen, and farmers ?
More than fifty-six years ago I read Dr. S.
Clarke, Emlyn, etc."
In Oct., 1758, Mr. Adams presented himself —
a stranger, poor and friendless — to Jeremy
Gridley, of Boston, attorney-general of the
crown, to ask of him the favor to offer him to
the Superior Court of the province, then sitting,
for admission to the bar. Mr. Gridley examined
him in his office, and recommended him to the
court ; and at the same time gave him excellent
paternal advice. For his kindness Mr. Adams
was ever grateful, and was afterwards his intimate
personal and professional friend. As Mr. Gridley
was grand master of the Massachusetts Grand
Lodge of Free Masons, Mr. Adams once asked
his advice, whether it was worth his while to be
come a member of the society ; the reply of the
grand master was, " No " ; adding, that he did
not need the artificial support of the society, and
that there was " nothing in the Masonic Institu
tion worthy of his seeking to be associated with
it." In consequence of this advice he never
sought admission to the lodge.
Mr. Adams commenced the practice of the law
at Quincy, then in the county of Suffolk, and
soon had a sufficiency of lucrative business. In
1761 he was admitted to the degree of barrister-
at-law. In this year a small estate became his
by the decease of his father. At this period his
zeal for the rights of his country was inflamed by
the attempt of the British cabinet to introduce in
Massachusetts writs of assistance — a kind of
general search-^ arrant for the discovery of goods
not discharged from the parliamentary taxes.
8 ADAMS.
The affair was argued in Boston by Mr. Otis.
Mr. Adams says, " Every man of an immense,
crowded audience appeared to me to go away, as
I did, ready to take arms against writs of as
sistance." — "Then and there the child Inde
pendence was bom."
In 1764, he married Abigail Smith, daughter
of Rev. William Smith of Weymouth, and grand
daughter of Colonel Quincy, a lady of uncommon
endowments and excellent education. — In the
next year he published an essay on Canon and
Feudal Law, reprinted at London in 1768, and at
Philadelphia in 1783. His object was to show
the conspiracy between Church and State for the
purpose of oppressing the people. He wished to
enlighten his fellow-citizens, that they might prize
their liberty, and be ready, if necessary, to assert
their rights by force.
He removed to Boston in 1765, and there had
extensive legal practice. In 1768 Gov. Bernard
offered him, through his friend Mr. Sewall, the
place of advocate-general in the Court of Ad
miralty, a lucrative post; but he decidedly de
clined the offer. He was not a man thus to be
bribed to desert the cause of his country. The
office was the same which Mr. Otis had resigned,
in 1761 in order to oppose the writs of assistance.
Yet Mr. Hutchinson states, that he was at a loss
which side to take, and that the neglect of Ber
nard to make him a justice of the peace roused
his patriotism ! He adds : " His ambition was
without bounds ; and he has acknowledged to his
acquaintance, that he could not look with com
placency upon any man, who was in possession
of move wealth, more honor, or more knowledge
than himself." In 1769, he was chairman of the
committee of the town of Boston for drawing up
instructions to their representatives to resist the
British encroachments. His colleagues were R.
Dana and Joseph Warren. These instructions
were important links in the chain of revolutionary
events. — In consequence of the affray with the
British garrison March 5, 1770, in which several
of the people of Boston were killed, the soldiers
were arraigned before the civil authority. Not
withstanding the strong excitement against them,
Mr. Adams, with J. Quincy and S. S. Blowers,
defended them, and procured the acquittal of all
except two, who were convicted of manslaughter,
and branded in punishment. This triumph of
justice, for the soldiers were first attacked, was
honorable to the cause of America. In May,
1770, he was chosen a member of the Legisla
ture, in which he took a prominent part.
In 1773 he wrote ably in the Boston Gazette
against the regulation, making judges dependent
for their salaries upon the crown. In 1773 and
1774 he was chosen into the council by the as
sembly, but negatived by the governor. To the
struggle, at tin's period, betAvcen the house and
ADAMS.
the governor in respect to the council, his friend
Sewall, pleasantly alludes thus : " We have some
times seen half-a-dozen sail of tory navigation
unable, on an election day, to pass the bar, formed
by the flux and reflux of the tides at the entrance
of the harbor, and as many whiggish ones stranded
the next morning on Governor's Island." — June
17, 1774, he was chosen by the assembly, to
gether with T. Cashing, *S. Adams, and II. T.
Paine, to the first Continental Congress. To
Sewall, who, while they were attending the court
at Portland, endeavored to dissuade him, in a
morning walk on " the great hill," from accepting
this appointment, he said : " The die is now cast ;
I have passed the Rubicon ; swim or sink, live or
die, survive or perish with my country is my un
alterable determination." Thus he parted with
his tory friend, nor did he converse with him
again till 1788.
He took his seat in Congress Sept. 5, 1774, and
was on the committee, which drew up the state
ment of the rights of the colonies, and on that,
which prepared the address to the king. At this
period the members of Congress generally were
not determined on independence. It was thought,
the British would relinquish their claims. — He
returned to Boston in November, and soon wrote
the papers, with the signature of Novanglus, in
answer to those of his friend Sewall, with the
signature of Massachusettensis. The latter are
dated from Dec. 12, 1774, to April 3, 177o; the
former from Jan. 23 to April 17, l"o. These
papers were reprinted in 1819, with a preface by
Mr. Adams, with the addition of letters to W.
Tudor.
A short review of them may be interesting, as
they relate to a period immediately preceding the
commencement of hostilities. In this controversy
Mr. Sewall said : " I saw the small seed of sedi
tion, when it was implanted ; it was as a grain of
mustard. I have watched the plant, until it has
become a great tree ; the vilest reptiles, that
crawl upon the earth, arc concealed at the root ;
the foulest birds of the air rest on its branches.
I now would induce you to go to work immedi
ately with axes and hatchets, and cut it down, for
a twofold reason — because it is a pest to society,
and lest it be felled suddenly by a stronger arm,
and crush its thousands in the fall." In the first
place, he maintained, that resistance to Great
Britain would be unavailing. The militia he con
sidered undisciplined and ungovernable, each man
being a politician, puffed up with his own opinion.
" An experienced British officer would rather take
his chance with five thousand British troops, than
fifty 'thousand such militia." The sea coast he
regarded as totally unprotected. Our trade,
fishery, navigation, and maritime towns were
liable to be lost in a moment. The back settle-
j ments would fall a prey to the Canadians and
ADAMS.
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Indians. The British army would sweep all be
fore it like a wliirlwind. Besides, New England
would probably be alone, unsupported by the
other. States, llebellion, therefore, would be the
height of madness. In considering the reasons
for resistance he maintained, that the parliament
had a right to pass a stamp act, in order that the
colonies should bear a part of the national burden.
Similar acts had been before passed. We had
paid postage agreeably to act of parliament, du
ties imposed for regulating trade, and even for
raising a revenue to the crown, without question
ing the right. This right, he says, Avas first
denied by the resolves of the house of burgesses
in Virginia. " We read them with wonder ; they
savored of independence." The three-penny duty
on tea, he thought, should not be regarded as
burdensome ; for the duty of a shilling, laid upon
it for regulating trade, and therefore allowed to
be constitutional, was taken ofl'; so that we were
gainers ninepence in the pound by the new regu
lation, which was designed to prevent smuggling,
and not to raise a revenue. The act declaratory
of the right to tax was of no consequence, so long
as there was no grievous exercise of it, especially
as we had protested against it, and our assemblies
had ten times resolved, that no such right ex
isted. But demagogues were interested in in
flaming the minds of the people. The pulpit
also was a powerful engine in promoting discon
tent. — Though the small duty of three pence
was to be paid by the East India company, or
their factors, on landing the tea, for the purpose
of selling it at auction, and no one was obliged to
purchase ; yet the mob of Boston, in disguise,
forcibly entered the three ships of tea, split open
the chests, and emptied the whole, 10,000 pounds
sterling in value, into the dock, " and perfumed
the town with its fragrance." Yet zealous rebel
merchants were every day importing teas, subject
to the same duty. The act interfered with their
interest, not with the welfare of the people. The
blockade act against Boston was a just retaliatory
measure, because the body-meeting, contrived
merely as a screen to the town, consisting of
thousands, had resolved, that the tea should not pay
the duty. Now sprung up from the brain of a
partizan the " committee of correspondence " —
" the foulest, subtlest, and most venomous ser
pent, that ever issued from the eggs of sedition."
A new doctrine had been advanced, that, as the
Americans are not represented in parliament, they
are exempt from acts of parh'ament. But, if the
colonies are not subject to the authority of par
liament, Great Britain and the colonies must be
distinct States. Two independent authorities can
not co-exist. The colonies have only power to
regulate their internal police, but are necessarily
subject to the control of the supreme power of
the State. Had any person denied, fifteen years
ago, that the colonies were subject to the authority
of parh'ament, he would have been deemed a
fool or a madman. It was curious to trace the
history of rebellion. When the stamp act was
passed, the right of parliament to impose internal
taxes was denied ; but the right to impose ex
ternal ones, to lay duties on goods and mer
chandize, was admitted. On the passage of the
tea act a new distinction was set up ; duties could
be laid for the regulation of trade, but not for
raising a revenue ; parliament could lay the for
mer duty of a shilling a pound, but not the
present duty of three pence. There was but one
more step to independence — the denial of the
right in parliament to make any laws whatever,
which should bind the colonies ; and this step the
pretended patriots had taken. Mr. Otis, the
oracle of the whigs, in 1764 never thought of
this. On the contrary, he maintained in respect
to the colonies, that " the parliament has an un
doubted power and lawful authority to make acts
for the general good." Obedience, in his view,
was a solemn duty. The original charter of the
colony exempted it from taxes for a definite pe
riod, implying the right to tax afterwards. The
grant of all the liberties of natural subjects within
the realm of England affords no immunity from
taxes. If a person, born in England, should
remove to Ireland, or to Jersey, or Guernsey,
whence no member is sent to parliament, he
would be in the same predicament with an emi
grant to America, all having the rights of natural
born subjects. In the charter by King William
the powers of legislation were restricted, so that
nothing should be done contrary to the laws of
the realm of England. Even Dr. Eranklin in
176o admitted, that the British had " a natural
and equitable right to some toll or duty upon
merchandizes," carried through the American
seas. Mr. Otis also, in the same year, admitted
the same equitable right of parliament " to im
pose taxes on the colonies, internal and external,
on lands as well as on trade." Indeed, for more
than a century parliament had exercised the now
controverted right of legislation and taxation.
On the whole, Mr. Sewall was convinced, that
the avarice and ambition of the leading whigs
were the causes of the troubles of America :
" they call themselves the people ; and, when
their own measures are censured, cry out — 'the
people, the people are abused and insulted ! ' "
He deplored the condition of the dupes of the
republican party — the men who, every morning,
" swallowed a chimera for breakfast." By the in
famous methods resorted to, " many of the an
cient, trusty, and skilful pilots, who had steered
the community safely in the most perilous times,
were driven from the helm, and their places occu
pied by different persons, some of whom, bank
rupts in fortune, business, and fame, are now
10
ADAMS.
striving to run the ship on the rocks, that they
may have an opportunity of plundering the
Vi'reck ! "
To this Mr. Adams replied, that parliament
had authority over America by no law : not by
the law of nature and nations ; nor by common
law, which never extended beyond the four seas ;
nor by statute law, for none existed before the
settlement of the colonies; and that we were
under no religious, moral, or political obligations
to submit to parliament as a supreme executive.
He asked, " Is the three pence upon tea our only
grievance ? Are we not deprived of the privilege
of paying our governors, judges, etc. ? Are not
trials by jury taken from us ? Are we not sent to
England for trial ? Is not a military government
put over us ? Is not our constitution demolished
to the foundation ? " — " Xip the shoots of ar
bitrary power in the bud is the only maxim,
winch can ever preserve the liberties of any
people." He maintained, that the pretence to
tax for revenue, and not merely for the regula
tion of trade, had never been advanced till re
cently; that, in 1754, Dr. Franklin denied such a
right; that, more than a century before, both
Massachusetts and Virginia had protested against
the act of navigation, and refused obedience, be
cause not represented in parliament. He denied,
that there was a whig in the province, who wished
to set up an independent republic. But resistance
to lawless violence, he said, is not rebellion by
the law of God or of the land. And, as to ina
bility to cope with Great Britain, he maintained,
that, " in a land war this continent might defend
itself against all the world." As to old charters,
that of Virginia in 1609 exempted the company
forever from taxes on goods and merchandizes.
The same exemption was given to Maryland in
1 633. The Plymouth colony was settled without
a charter, on the simple principle of nature, and
thus continued an independent government sixty-
eight years. The same was the case with the
colonies in Connecticut. In Massachusetts, the
general court in 1677 declared, that the laws of
England were bounded within the four seas, and
did not reach America. The only power of par
liament, which he would allow, was that arising
from our voluntary cession of regulating trade.
The first charter erected a corporation within the
realm of England ; there the governor and com
pany were to reside, and their agents only were
1') come to America. But they came themselves,
and brought their charter with them, and thus,
being out of the realm, were not subject to par
liament. The king of England could by law
grant nothing out of England, or the realm.
The great seal had no authority out of the realm,
except to mandatory or prcccptory writs; and
such was not the charter. In case of the for
feiture of a charter, the people born here could
ADAMS.
be under no allegiance to the king. — Such
briefly were the opposite views of these distin
guished men. These writings of Mr. Adams,
with those of Otis, Thachcr, and others,, con
tributed much to the emancipation of America
from British thraldom.
Mr. Adams attended the next Congress in
1775. On hearing of the battle of Lexington,
war was determined on. At his suggestion, Gov.
Johnstone nominated Washington as commander-
in-chief, and he was unanimously chosen. "When
he returned to Massachusetts, he declined the
office of chief justice, to which he had been in
vited. In Congress he was among the foremost,
who were in favor of independence. He moved,
May 6, 1776, to recommend to the colonies "to
adopt such a government, as would, in the opinion
of the representatives of the people, best con
duce to the happiness and safety of their con
stituents and of America." This passed, after
earnest debate, on the 15th. H. II. Lee moved,
on the 7th June, and the motion was seconded
by Mr. Adams, " that these united colonies are,
and of right ought to be, free and independent
States." The debate continued to the 10th, and
was then postponed to the 1st of July. A com
mittee of five, consisting of Jefferson, Adams,
Franklin, Sherman, and R. R. Livingston, was
appointed to draw up a declaration of independ
ence. The two first were the sub-committee.
The instrument, at the request of Mr. Adams,
was written by Jefferson. The resolution of Lee
was debated again July 1st, and adopted on the
2d. Then the Declaration was considered and
passed, with a few omissions and changes, July
4th ; but not without vigorous opposition, particu
larly from John Dickinson, one of the ablest men
and finest writers in Congress. The opposing
arguments were met by Mr. Adams in a speech
of unrivalled power. Of him Mr. Jefferson said, —
" the great pillar of support to the declaration of
independence and its ablest advocate and cham
pion on the floor of the house was John Ad
ams." — "He was the colossus of that Congress:
not graceful, not eloquent, not always fluent in
his public addresses, he yet came out with a
power both of thought and expression, which
moved his hearers from their seats."
On the next day Mr. Adams wrote the follow
ing letter to his wife, dated Philadelphia, July 5,
1776:
" Yesterday the greatest question was decided,
which was ever debated in America, and a
greater, perhaps, never was, or will be, decided
among men. A resolution has passed without
one dissenting colony, ' That these colonies are,
and of rigid ought to be, Free and Independent
States.'
" The day is passed. The fourth day of July,
1776, will be a memorable cpocli in the history
ADAMS.
of America. I am apt to believe, it will be cele
brated by succeeding generations as the great
anniversary festival. It ought to be commem
orated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts
of devotion to Almighty God. It ought to be
solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports,
guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one
end of the continent to the other, from this time
forward, forever. You will think me transported
with enthusiasm ; but I am not. I am well aware
of the toil and blood and treasure, that it will
cost us to maintain this declaration, and support
and defend these States ; yet through all the
gloom I can see the rays of light and glory. I
can see, that the end is more than worth all the
means, and that posterity will triumph, although
you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not."
Mr. Silas Deane, commissioner with Franklin
and A. Lee at the French court, having been
recalled, Mr. Adams was appointed in his place
Nov. 28, 1777. — lie was thus released from his
duties as chairman of the board of war, in which
he had been engaged since June 13, 1776. It is
said, that he had been a member of ninety com
mittees, and chairman of twenty-five. — Embark
ing in about two months in the Boston frigate, he
arrived safely ; but the treaties of commerce and
alliance had been signed before his arrival. —
Soon after his return he assisted, in the autumn
of 1779, as a member of the convention, and as
one of the sub-committee in preparing a form of
government for the State of Massachusetts. He
wrote the clause in regard to the patronage of
literature. Sept. 29, 1779, he was appointed min
ister plenipotentiary to negotiate a peace, and
had authority to form a commercial treaty with
Great Britain. He sailed in the French frigate
Sensible, Nov. 17, landed at Ferrol, and after a
toilsome journey arrived at Paris in Feb., 1780.
He was accompanied by Francis Dana as secre
tary of legation, and by John Thaxtcr as private
secretary. Deeming a residence in Holland more
favorable to his country than in Paris, he deter
mined to proceed to Amsterdam as soon as per
mission could be obtained from the French min
ister, Count de Vergcnncs, who was displeased
by the refusal of Mr. Adams to communicate to
him his instructions in regard to the treaty of
commerce. In August he repaired to Amster
dam, having previously been instructed to procure
loans in Holland, and soon afterwards receiving
power to negotiate a treaty of amity and com
merce. Amidst great difficulties, arising from
the hostility of England and the intrigues of
France herself, he toiled incessantly for the in
terest of his country. In a series of twenty-six
letters to Mr. Kalkoen, he gave an account of
the controversy with Great Britain, and of the
resources, determination, and prospects of America.
These papers were reprinted in the Boston Patriot,
ADAMS.
11
and in a pamphlet form in 1809. They had
much effect in enlightening the people of Hol
land. Yet he could not persuade the States
General to acknowledge him as ambassador of
the United States until April, 1782. Associated
with Franklin, Jay, and Laurens, he formed the
definitive treaty of peace, which was ratified Jar.
14, 1784. — After assisting in other treaties, Mr.
Adams was in 1785 appointed the first minister
to London. In that city he published his " De
fence of the American constitutions" in 1787. —
At this time the constitution of the United States
had not been formed. The object of the work
was to oppose the theories of Turgot, the Abbe
de Mably, and Dr. Price in favor of a single
legislative assembly and the consolidation into
one tribunal of the powers of government. He
maintained the necessity of keeping distinct the
legislative, executive, and judicial departments ;
and, to prevent encroachment by the legislative
branch, he proposed a division of it into two
chambers, each as a check upon the other. He
carried his views into effect in drafting the con
stitution of Massachusetts, — which form has been
copied in its chief features by most of the other
States. — After an absence of nine years, he re
turned to America, and landed at Boston June
17, 1788. Congress had passed a resolution of
thanks for his able and faithful discharge of vari
ous important commissions. His " Discourses on
Davila" were written in 1790.
After his return he was elected the first vice-
president of the United States under the new
constitution, wliich went into operation in March,
1789. Having been re-elected to that office, he
held it, and of course presided in the Senate
during the whole of the administration of Wash
ington, whose confidence he enjoyed in an emi
nent degree. The Senate being nearly balanced
between the two parties of the day, his casting
vote decided some important questions ; in this
way Clarke's resolution to prohibit all intercourse
with Great Britain on account of the capture of
several American vessels was rejected. — On the
resignation of Washington Mr. Adams became
president of the United States March 4, 1797.
He was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson in 1801, who
was elected by a majority of one vote.
After March, 1801, Mr. Adams lived in retire
ment at Quincy, occupied in agricultural pursuits,
though occasionally addressing various communi
cations to the public. — In a letter to the founder
of the peace society of Massachusetts in 1816 he
says : " I have read, almost all the days of my
life, the solemn reasonings and pathetic declama
tions of Erasmus, of Fenelon, of St. Pierre, and
many others, against war and in favor of peace.
My understanding and my heart accorded witli
them at first blush. But, alas ! a longer and
more extensive experience has convinced mo, that
12
ADAMS.
wars are necessary, and as inevitable in our sys
tem as hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
Universal and perpetual peace appears to me no
more nor less than everlasting passive obedience
and non-resistance. The human flock would soon
be fleeced and butchered by one or a few. I
cannot therefore, sir, be a subscriber or a member
of your society. — I do, sir, most humbly suppli
cate the theologians, the philosophers, and the
politicians to let me die in peace. I seek only
repose." Mr. Jefferson expressed his opinions
more calmly on the subject.
In 1816 he was chosen a member of the elec
toral college, which voted for Mr. Monroe as
president. In 1818 he sustained his severest
affliction in the loss, in October, of his wife, with
whom he had lived more than half a century.
His only daughter, Mrs. Smith, died in 1813. In
1820, at the age of eighty-five, he was a member
of the convention for revising the constitution of
Massachusetts. In the last years of his life he
had a friendly correspondence with Mr. Jefferson.
He enjoyed the singular happiness in 182<3 of see
ing his son, John Quincy Adams, elevated to the
office of president of the United States. In this
year he was the only survivor of the first Con
gress, lie died July 4, 1826.
On the morning of the jubilee he was roused
by the ringing of bells and the firing of cannon,
and, when asked by his servant if he knew what
day it was, he replied, " O yes ! it is the glorious
4th of July — God bless it — God bless you all."
In the forenoon the orator of the day, his parish
minister, called to see him, and found him seated
in an arm-chair, and asked him for a sentiment,
to be given at the public table. He replied, " I
will give you — Independence forever ! " In the
course of the day he said, " It is a great and glo
rious day;" and just before he expired, exclaimed,
" Jefferson survives," shewing that his thoughts
were dwelling on the scenes of 17~6. But
Jefferson was then dead, having expired at one
o'clock. He liimself died at twenty minutes be
fore six P. M.
That two such men as Jefferson and Adams,
both of whom had been presidents of the United
States, the two last survivors of those, who had
voted for the Declaration of Independence, the
former having drawn it up, and the latter having
been its most powerful advocate on the floor of
Congress, should have died on the 4th of July,
just fifty years after the "glorious day" of the
Declaration of American Independence, presented
such an extraordinary concurrence of events as to
overwhelm the mind with astonishment. Some
of the eulogists of these illustrious men seemed
to regard the circumstances of their removal from
the earth as a signal proof of the favor of God,
and spoke of their spirits as beyond doubt thus
wonderfully, on the day of their glory, translated
ADAMS.
to heaven. But surely these circumstances ought,
not to be regarded as indications of the eternal
destiny of these men of political eminence. Like
others, they must appear at the bar of Jesus
Christ, to be judged agreeably to the settled prin
ciples of the Divine government, according to
their works and characters. If they believed in
the name of the Son of God and were his follow
ers, they will doubtless, if the Scriptures are true,
be saved ; otherwise they will be lost. It is not
always easy to ascertain the design of Providence.
If some imagine, that the extraordinary deaths
of these men indicate the Divine approbation of
their patriotism ; others may imagine, that their
deaths on the day, in which a kind of idolatry had
often been offered them, and in which the Ameri
can people had been often elated with the emotions
of vanity and pride, instead of rendering due
thanksgivings to the Almighty, were designed to
frown upon the erring people and to teach them,
that their boasted patriots and statesmen, their
incensed demi-gods, were but frail worms of the
dust. A new and similar wonder occurred in
the decease of another president, Monroe, on the
4th day of July, 1830.
Mr. Adams was somewhat irritable in his
temper, and at times was frank in the utterance
of his indignant feelings. In reply to a birth-day
address in 1802, the year after the termination of
his presidency, he said : " Under the continual
provocations, breaking and pouring in upon me,
from unexpected as well as expected quarters,
during the last two years of my administration, he
must have been more of a modern epicurian
philosopher, than ever I was- or ever will be, to
have borne them all without some incautious ex
pressions, at times, of an unutterable indignation..
I have no other apology to make to individuals or
the public." — This confession may teach the am
bitious, that the high station of president may be
a bed of thorns. Mr. Adams added the senti
ment, which is worthy of perpetual remembrance
by our statesmen and citizens : "The union is our
rock of safety, as well as our pledge of grandeur."
— Mr. Adams, it is believed, was a professor of
religion in the church at Quincy. In his views he
accorded with Dr. Bancroft, an Unitarian minister
of Worcester, of whose printed sermons he ex
pressed his high approbation.
In his person, Mr. Adams was of middling
stature. With passions somewhat impetuous, his
manners were courteous. Industry carried him
honorably through his immense public labors ;
temperance procured him the blessing of a
healthful old age. He lived to see but one name
before his imstarrcd in the catalogue of Harvard
College : excepting the venerable Dr. Holyoke,
all before him were numbered with the dead. He
was a scholar, versed in the ancient languages.
In his writings he was perspicuous and energetic.
ADAMS.
ADAMS.
13
To his native town he gave his whole library, and
made bequests for the endowment of an academy
and the building of a stone church.
His chief writings are — History of the dispute
with America, 1774; twenty-six letters on the
American llcvolution, written in Holland in 1780;
memorial to the States general, 1782; essay on
canon and feudal law, 1783; defence of the
American Constitution, 3 vols., 1788; answers to
patriotic addresses, 1798; letters on government,
to Sam. Adams, 1802 ; discourses on Davila,
1805; correspondence, 1809; Novanglus, re-pub
lished, 1819; correspondence with W. Cunning
ham, 1823; letters to Jefferson. — Encyclopedia
Amer. ; Amer. Ann. Reg. I. 225-240; Boston
Weekly Messenger, vi. 306 ; /. Q. Adams' letters
in Boston Patriot, Sept. 3, 1831; Holmes, II.
499.
ADAMS, Jonx QONCY, president of the United
States, died at Washington Feb. 23, 1848, aged
80 years, being born, the son of John A., July 11,
1767. At the age of ten he accompanied his
father to France ; at the age of fifteen he was private
secretary of Mr. Dana, minister to Russia. At
Harvard college he was graduated in 1787, and
then studied law with Mr. Parsons at Ncwbury-
port. Living in Boston, he published in 1791
the papers, signed Publicolu, remarking on
Paine's Rights of Man, distrusting the issue of
the French Revolution. From 1794 to 1801 he
was minister in Holland, Fngland, and Prussia.
From 1803 to 1808 he was a senator of the U. S. ;
but resigned from disagreement with lu's own
State Legislature. He was a professor of rhetoric
at Harvard from 1806 to 1809. He assisted in
negotiating the treaty of Ghent in Dec., 1814,
and afterwards assisted in the convention of com
merce with Great Britain. In 1817 he was sec
retary of state in the cabinet of Monroe. In 1825
he was chosen president of the U. S. The elec
toral votes were 99 for Jackson, 84 for Adams,
41 for Crawford, 37 for Clay. The votes of thir
teen States, represented in the house, elected him
president. He served for four years. In Decem
ber, 1831, he became a member of Congress,
and was continued in that post till his death.
While in his seat in the House of Rep
resentatives, Feb. 21st, he fell over on one side,
and was removed to Mr. Speaker Winthrop's
apartment, in which he died. He was only able
to say: "This is the last of earth; I am con
tent." His wife, Louisa, daughter of Joshua
Johnson of Maryland, whom he married in 1797,
survived him ; but died at Washington May
15, 1852, aged 76.
As a member of Congress he in his old age
gained imperishable honor by watching the move
ments and withstanding the progress of the slave-
holding power, which threatened to gain the as
cendency in our general government, over all the
interests of justice and human freedom, and to
render this land of liberty the scorn of the des
potisms of Europe. At the present day the battle
between slavery and freedom rages with increased
vehemence; and, had "the old man eloquent"
lived to see the border-ruffianism of Missouri
tolerated by our rulers, and allowed to create a
government and bear sway in the Territory of
Kansas, and also to see a Southern ruffian striking
down a Massachusetts senator in his seat, and
supported in the act by the whole South, his voice
would have rung like a clarion through the hall
of Congress and through our land.
He published letters on Silesia, 1804; lectures
on rhetoric and oratory, 2 vols., 1810; Dermot
MacMorrogh, a poetic historical tale, 1832 ; poems
of religion and society, and various occasional
addresses.
ADAMS, HANNAH, died Dec. 15, 1831, aged
74, and was the first tenant of the burying-ground
at Mount Auburn. She was born in Medfield,
Mass. ; her father kept a store ; her mother died
when she was ten years old. She was perhaps
the first American lady who devoted her life to
literature ; but the profits of her labors were in
considerable. She was under the middle stature,
very deaf, a great rappee snuff-taker, and very
fond of strong tea. A few noble-minded friends
bestowed upon her the comforts of life. A jour
ney to Chelmsford was the farthest she had been
by land, and a trip from Boston to Nahant, only
ten miles, her only voyage by water. She pub
lished a history of New England, 1799; a view
of religions, 1801; history of the Jews, 1812;
controversy with Dr. Morse, 1814; letters on
the Gospels, 2d ed., 1826. A memoir, written by
herself, with additions by a friend, 1832.
ADAMS, EBENEZER, professor of languages
and of mathematics at Dartmouth college, died
Aug. 15, 1841, aged 77. He was born at Xew
Ipswich, and graduated in 1791 at Dartmouth.
His daughter married Professor Young of the
same college.
ADAMS, BENJAMIN, died at Uxbridge March
28, 1837, aged 72. A graduate of Brown univer
sity in 1788, he was a lawyer, and a member of
Congress from 1816 to 1821; a man of integrity
and worth, and much respected.
ADAMS, JOHN W., presbyterian minister, died
at Syracuse March 4, 1850, aged 54. He was
the son of Rev. Roger A., of Conn., and Avas
settled over the first church Dec. 14, 1824. The
church members were three hundred and sixty-
five in number.
ADAMS, NEWTON, M. D., missionary among
the Zulus in S. Africa, died Sept. 16, 1851, aged
47. Born in East Bloomfield, X. Y., he decided
to become a missionary in 1834, and went out as
a physician ; but was ordained in 1844. He was
one of the six men, who with their wives sailed
14
ADAMS.
from Boston in Dec., 1834, to lay the foundation
of the Zulu mission.
ADAMS, CHARLES BAKER, died at St. Thomas
of the fever Jan. 19, 1853, aged 38. He was
professor at Amhcrst college of zoology and as
tronomy from 1847, and had been professor of
chemistry and natural history at Middlcbury.
He published Ileports as State geologist of Ver
mont, and a work with Prof. Gray on geology.
Some of his writings on zoology are in the annals
of the Lyceum of Natural History of Xew York.
ADAMS, ZABDIEL BOYLSTON, M. D., died in
Boston Jan. 25, 185-5, aged 62. Born in Rox-
bury, he graduated in 1813, and was a skilful and
beloved physician.
ADDLXGTOX, ISAAC, secretary of the proA--
incc of Massachusetts, died at Boston March 19,
1715, aged 70 years. His father was Isaac ; his
mother was Anne, daughter of elder Thomas
Leverett, sister of Gov. L. ; his sister Rebecca
married Capt. E. Davenport; his sister Sarah
married Col. Penn Townscnd. He sustained a
high character for talents and learning, and for
integrity and diligence in his public services. He
was secretary more than twenty years, and for
many years a magistrate and member of the
council, elected by the people ; and was also some
times "useful in practicing physic and chirurgery."
lie was singularly meek and humble and disinter
ested. In his family he was a daily worshipper
of God. The religion, which he professed, gave
him peace, as he went down to the dead. —
Wadswortlis Funeral Serm. ; Hutchinson,!. 414;
II. 212.
ADDIS, ASA, chief justice of Vt., died at St.
Albans Oct. 15, 1847, aged 77. He was a grad
uate of Brown university.
ADDISOX, ALEXANDER, a distinguished lawyer,
died at Pittsburg, Pcnn., Nov. 24, 1807, aged 48. \
In the office of a judge for twelve years he was a
luminous expounder of the law, prompt and im
partial, and never was there an appeal from his j
judgment. His various powerful talents and ex
tensive learning were displayed in numerous writ
ings, which evinced not only a cogency in reason
ing, but a classic purity of style, and a uniform
regard to the interests of virtue. He was dis
interested, generous, beneficent. He published
observations on Gallatin's speech, 1798; analysis
of report of committee of Virginia Assembly,
1800; reports in Pcnns. 1800.
ADRAIX, ROBERT, LL. I)., died at Xew |
Brunswick, X. J., Aug. 10, 1843, aged 68. A !
native of Ireland, he came to this country with j
Emmet. He was professor of mathematics at j
Rutgers college, also at Columbia college.
AGATE, FREDERICK S., died at Xew York in
May, 1844, aged 37; an historical painter of con
siderable reputation among American artists.
AHvEX, DANIEL, died at Wcxford, Canada
ALDEX.
West, in Jan., 1847, aged 120. He was seven
times married : his grandchildren Avere 370 boys
and 200 girls.
AITKEX, ROBERT, a printer in Philadelphia,
came to this country in 1769, and died July, 1802,
aged 68. For his attachment to American liberty,
he was thrown into prison by the British. Among
his publications were a magazine, an edition of the
Bible, and the transactions of the Amer. Phil.
Soc. He was the author, it is believed, of an
inquiry concerning the principles of a commercial
system for the United States, 1787. Jane Aitken,
his daughter, continued the business ; she printed
Thompson's Septuagint. — Thomas, II. 77.
AKERLY, SAMUEL, M. D., died at Staten
Island July 6, 1845, aged 60. He studied with his
brother-in-law, Mitchell, and contributed largely
to medical and scientific journals. He was one
of the founders of the institutions for the deaf
and dumb, and the blind.
ALBERT, PIERRE ANTONIE, rector of the
French Protestant Episcopal Church in Xew
York, was the descendant of a highly respectable
family in Lausanne, Switzerland. Being invited
to take the charge of the church in the city
of Xew York, which was founded by the perse
cuted Huguenots after the revocation of the edict
of Xantes, he commenced his labors July 26,
1797, and died July 12, 1806, aged 40. He was
an accomplished gentleman, an erudite scholar, a
profound theologian, and a most eloquent preacher.
A stranger, of unobtrusive manners and invincible
modesty, he led a very retired life. His worth,
however, could not be concealed. He was es
teemed and beloved by all his acquaintance. —
Massachusetts Missionary Magazine, iv. 78.
ALDEX, JOHN, a magistrate of Plymouth
colony, was one of the first company which settled
Xew England. He arrived in 16CO, and his life
was prolonged till Sept. 12, 1687, when he died,
aged about 89 years. When sent by his friend,
Capt. Standish, to make for him proposals of
marriage to Priscilla Mullins, the lady said to
him, — "Prithee, John, why do you not speak for
yourself ? " This intimation of preference from
the lips of one of the Pilgrim beauties was not
to be overlooked. Priscilla became his wife. He
was a very worthy and useful man, of great hu
mility and eminent piety. He was an assistant
in the administration of every governor for many
years. A professed disciple of Jesus Christ, he
lived in accordance with his profession. In his
last illness he was patient and resigned, fully be
lieving that God, who had imparted to him the
love of excellence, would perfect the work, which
he had begun, and would render him completely
holy in heaven.
ALDEX, JOHN, died at Middlcborough, in
1821, aged 102; the great grandson of J. A., of
the Mavflower.
ALDEN.
ALEXANDER
15
ALDEX, JUDAII, died at Duxbury March 2,
1845, aged 94. He was a patriot and officer of
the Revolution, and president of the Cincinnati.
ALDEX, SETH, died at Titicut Feb. 22, 1855,
aged 83 ; a descendant of John Alden, the young
est of nineteen children.
ALDEX, TIMOTHY, a descendant of John Al
den, was graduated at Harvard college in 1762,
and settled Dec. 13, 17G9, at Yarmouth, Mass.,
where he died Nov. 13, 1828, aged 91 years.
For more than half a century he was a faithful
laborer in the cause of religion. His people, in
their affection to him, gave him a comfortable
support for years after he had ceased to teach
them. He published a dedication sermon, 1795.
ALDEX, TIMOTHY, I). D., son of the pre
ceding, died at Pittsburg July 5, 1839, aged G8.
He was a graduate of Harvard in 1794, a minis
ter in Portsmouth, and president of Allcghany
college at Meadville. lie published a sermon on
the death of Washington, 1800; account of socie
ties in Portsmouth, 1808 ; a century sermon, 1811 ;
Xcw Jersey Register, 1811 ; collection of epitaphs,
5 vols., 1814; Alleghany Magazine, 1816.
ALDEX, ICHABOD, colonel, was killed by the
Indians at Cherry Valley in Xov., 1778. He
commanded a Massachusetts regiment in the war.
He was the descendant of John Alden ; and a son
of Samuel, of Duxbury, who died in 1780, aged 93.
ALDEX, ROGER, major, an officer of the Revo
lution, died at West Point Xov. 5, 1836, aged 88.
ALEXAXDER, an Indian, was the son and
successor of Massassoit, and brother of King
Philip. His Indian name was Wamsutta. He
received his English name in 1656. Being sus
pected of conspiring with the Xarragansetts
against the English, he was captured by surprise,
by Major Winslowin 1662, and carried to Marsh-
field. The indignant sachem fell sick of a fever ,-
and was allowed to return, under a pledge of ap
pearing at the next court ; but he died on his
way. Judge Davis gives a minute account of
this affair. Dr. Holmes places the occurrence in
1657. — Davis' Morton, 287; Holmes, I. 308.
ALEXAXDER, JAMES, secretary of the prov
ince of Xew York, and many years one of the
council, arrived in the colony in 1715. He was a
Scotch gentleman, who was bred to the law.
Gov. Burnett was particularly attached to him.
Though not distinguished for his talents as a
public speaker, he was at the head of his pro
fession for sagacity and penetration. Eminent
for Iris knowledge, he was also communicative
and easy of access. By honest practice and un
wearied application to business, he acquired a
great estate. He died in the beginning of
1756. — Smith's New York, 152.
ALEXAXDER, WILLIAM, commonly called
Lord Stirling, a major-general in the American
army, was a native of the city of New York, the
son of the secretary, James Alexander, but spent
a considerable part of his life in Xew Jersey.
He was considered by many as the rightful heir
to the title and estate of an earldom in Scotland,
of which country his father was a native ; and
although, when he went to Xorth Britain in pur
suit of this inheritance, he failed of obtaining an
acknowledgment of his claim by government, yet
among his friends and acquaintances he received
by courtesy the title of Lord Stirling. — He dis
covered an early fondness for the study of mathe
matics and astronomy, and attained great emi
nence in these sciences.
In the battle on Long Island Aug. 27, 1776,
he was taken prisoner, after having secured to a
large part of the detachment an opportunity to
escape by a bold attack with four hundred men
upon a corps under Lord Cornwallis. His at
tachment to Washington was proved in the latter
part of 1777, by transmitting to him an account
of the disaffection of Gen. Conway to the com-
mander-in-chief. In the letter he said : " Such
wicked duplicity of conduct I shall always think
it my duty to detect." He died at Albany Jan.
15, 1783, aged 57 years. He was a brave, dis
cerning, and intrepid officer. — He married Sarah,
daughter of Philip Livingston. His eldest daugh
ter, Mary, married John Watts, of a wealthy
family in Xew York. He published a pamphlet,
"The conduct of Maj.-Gen. Shirley briefly stated."
— Miller, II. 390; Holmes, II. 247; Marshall,
in. Note No v.
ALEXAXDER, NATHANIEL, governor of
Xorth Carolina, was graduated at Princeton in
1776, and after studying medicine entered the
army. At the close of the war he resided at the
High Hills of Santee, pursuing his profession,
and afterwards at Mecklenburg. While he held
a seat in Congress, the Legislature elected him
governor in 1806. He died at Salisbury March
8, 1808, aged 52. In all his public stations he
discharged his duty with ability and firmness. —
Charleston Courier, March 23.
ALEXAXDER, CALEB, I). D., a native of
Xorthfield, Mass., and a graduate of Yale in
1777, was ordained at Xew Marlborough, Mass.,
in 1781, and dismissed in 1782. He was again
settled at Mendon,and dismissed in 1803. After
an ineffectual attempt to establish a college at
Fairfield, State of Xew York, he took the charge
of the academy at Onondaga Hollow, where he
died in April, 1828. He published an essay on
the deity of Jesus Christ, with strictures on Em-
lyn, 1791; a Latin grammar, 1794; an English
grammar, and grammar elements. — History of
Berkshire, 293.
ALEXAXDER, ARCHIBALD, D. D., professor
of theology at Princeton, was the descendant of a
Scotch-Irish family, which came over about 1736
and settled in the great valley of Virginia; and
16
ALFOHD.
•was the son of William A. lie died Oct. 22,
1851, aged 79. About 1801 lie was president of
Hampdcn Sidney college, and married Janetta,
daughter of Rev." Dr. Waddel, of LotuVa county,
Va. In 1806 he succeeded Dr. Milledoler in Tine
street church in Phila. In 1812 he became the
professor of theology in the new seminary at
Princeton. Dr. Miller came in Dec., 1813. He
remained with honor in this important station
until his death. He left six sons and a daughter;
three were ministers, two lawyers, one a physician.
His brother, Maj. John A., who served in the war
of 1812, died at Lexington in 1853.
He published a sermon at Philadelphia, 1808;
on the burning of the theatre, 1811; missionary,
1813; inaugural; Christian evidences, 1825; canon
of Bible; to young men, 1826; on Sunday schools,
1829; growth in grace; before Amer. Board,
1829; hymns, selected, 1831; on pastoral office;
lives of patriarchs; history of Israel; house of
God; the people of God led, 1842; at Washing
ton college, 1843; sketches in regard to the log
college, 1845; history of colonization ; outlines of
moral science ; introd. to Henry, Bates, Jay, and
Watcrbury; practical sermons; letters to the
aged ; counsels to the young ; against Universal-
ism; compend of Bible truth; on experience;
life of Baxter ; of Melville ; of Knox ; way of
salvation, with various other tracts, as on justifica
tion by faith; the day of judgment; and the
misery of the lost. His life by his son, Dr. J.
W. A., was published in 1854 by C. Scribner, N.
York.
ALFORD, ABIGAIL, died at Northampton Aug.
26, 1756, aged 102.
ALICE, a slave, died in Bristol, Penn., in 1802,
aged 116. She was born in Philadelphia, which
place she remembered as chiefly a wilderness
inhabited by Indians. For forty years she was
employed in ferrying. She retained her hearing,
but was blind at the age of one hundred ; though
her sight was gradually restored. Her hair be
came white. Unable to read, she loved to have
the Bible read to her. A worthy member of the
Episcopal church, she anticipated the happiness of
dwelling in the presence of her Saviour.
ALFORD, JOHN, founder of the professorship
of natural religion, moral philosophy, and civil
polity in Harvard college, died at Charlestown
Sept. 29, 1761, aged 75. He had been a member
of the council. His executors determined the
particular objects, to which his bequest for charit
able uses should be applied, and divided it
equally between Harvard college, Princeton col
lege, and the society for the propagation of the
Gospel among the Indians. To the latter 10,6
dollars were paid in 1787. Levi Frisbie was the
first Alford professor.
ALLEN, Jonx, first minister of Dcdham,
Mass., was born in England in 1596, and was
ALLEN.
driven from his native land during the persecution
of the Puritans. He had been for a number of
years a faithful preacher of the Gospel. Soon
after he arrived in New England, he was settled
pastor of the church in Dedham April 24, 1639.
Here he continued till his death Aug. 26, 1671,
aged 74. He was a man of great meekness and
humility, and of considerable distinction in his
day. Mr. Cotton speaks of him with respect in
his preface to Norton's answer to Apollonius.
He published a defence of the nine positions, in
which, with Mr. Shepard of Cambridge, he dis
cusses the .points of church discipline ; and a
defence of the Synod of 1662, against Mr.
Chauncy, under the title of Animadversions upon
the Antisynodalia, 4to, 1664. This work is pre
served in the New England library. The last
two sermons, which he preached, were printed
after his death. — Magnolia, in. 132; Prenliss'
Funeral Sermon on Haven.
ALLEN, THOMAS, minister of Charlestown, was
born at Norwich in England, in 1608, and was
educated at Cambridge. He was afterwards min
ister of St. Edmond's in Norwich, but was
silenced by bishop Wren, about the year 1636, for
refusing to read the book of sports and conform
to other impositions. In 1638 he fled to New
England, and was the same year installed in
Charlestown, where he was a faithful preacher of
the Gospel till about 1651, when he returned to
Norwich, and continued the exercise of his minis
try till 1662. He afterwards preached to his
church on all occasions, that offered, till his death,
Sept. 21, 1673, aged 65. He was a very pious
man, greatly beloved, and an able, practical
preacher.
He published an imitation to thirsty sinners to
come to their Saviour ; the way of the Spirit in
bringing souls to Christ ; the glory of Christ set
forth, with the necessity of faith, in several ser
mons ; a chain of Scripture chronology from the
creation to the death of Christ, in seven periods.
This was printed in 1658, and was regarded as a
very learned and useful work. It is preserved in
the New England library, established by Mr.
Prince, by whom the authors quoted in the book
arc written in the beginning of it in his own
hand. Mr. Allen wrote also, with Mr. Shepard, in
1645, a preface to a treatise on liturgies, &c. com
posed by the latter. He contends, that only
visible saints and believers should be received to
communion. — Magnal. III. 215 ; Nonconformists'
Memorial,!. 254; in. 11, 12.
ALLEN, MATTHEW, one of the first settlers of
Connecticut, came to this country with Mr. Hooker
in 1632, and become a landholder in Cambridge,
in the records of which town his lands and houses
are described. He accompanied Mr. Hooker to
Hartford in 1636, and was a magistrate. In the
charter of 1662 he is named as one of the com-
ALLEN.
ALLEN.
17
pany. His public services were various. In 1664
he is called Mr. Allen, senior. He might have
been the father of John. There was, however, a
Mr. Matthew Allen, a magistrate, in 1710 ; another
of the same name in Windsor, in 1732. Trum-
bell gives the name Allen; but Mather wrote
Allyn.
ALLEN, JOIEV, secretary of the colony of
Connecticut, was chosen a magistrate under the
charter in 1662 and treasurer in 1663. He was
on the committee, with Matthew Allen and John
Talcott, respecting the union with New Haven in
1663. He appears to have been secretary as
early as Dec., 1664 ; Joseph Allen had been sec
retary before him. He was also secretary in 1683
and on the committee respecting the boundary of
New York. The time of his death is not known.
One of his name was magistrate as late as 1709.
The history of the Pequot war, given by Increase
Mather in his Relation in 1677, w7as not written
by Mr. Allen, as Judge Davis erroneously sup
poses, but merely communicated by him to Mr.
Mather. — Davis' Morton, 196; Prince's Introd.
to Mason's Hist.
ALLEN, JAMES, minister in Boston, came to
this country in 1662, recommended by Mr. Good
win. He had been a fellow of New college,
Oxford. He was at this time a young man, and
possessed considerable talents. He was very
pleasing to many of the church in Boston, and an
attempt was made to settle him as assistant to
Mr. Wilson and Mr. Norton. He was ordained
teacher of the first church Dec. 9, 1668, as
colleague with Mr. Davenport, who was at the
same time ordained pastor. After the death of
Mr. Davenport, he had for his colleague Mr.
Oxcnbridge, and after his decease Mr. Wadsworth.
In 1669 seventeen ministers published their
testimony against the conduct of Mr. Allen and
Mr. Davenport in relation to the settlement of
the latter. They were charged with communica
ting parts only of letters from the church of New
Haven to the church of Boston, by which means,
it was said, the church was deceived ; but they in
defence asserted, that the letters retained did not
represent things differently from what had been
stated. The whole colony was interested in the
controversy between the first and the new, or third
church. At length the General Court, in 1670,
declared the conduct of those churches and elders,
who assisted in establishing the third church, to
be illegal and disorderly. At the next session,
however, as there was a change of the members
of the General Court, the censure was taken off.
It seems, the act of censure was expressed in lan
guage very intemperate, and invasion of the rights
of churches and assumption of prelatical power
were declared in it to be among the prevailing
evils of the day. The charge was so general, and
it threatened to operate so unfavorably on religion,
that a number of the very ministers, who had
published their testimony against the elders of
the first church, wrote an address to the court,
representing the intemperate nature of the vote ;
and it was in consequence revoked, and the new
church was exculpated. Mr. Allen died Sept.
22, 1710, aged 78 years. His sons were James,
John, and Jeremiah, born in 1670, 1672, and
1673. The last was chosen treasurer of the prov
ince in 1715.
He published healthful diet, a sermon ; New
England's choicest blessings, an election sermon,
1679 ; serious advice to delivered ones ; man's
self-reflection a means to further his recovery
from his apostasy from God ; and two practical
discourses. — Hutchinson's Hist, of Mass. I. 173,
222, 225, 270 ; Collections of the Hist. Society,
IX. 173 ; Calami/.
ALLEN, SAMUEL, a merchant of London, pro
prietor of a part of New Hampshire, made the
purchase of the heirs of Mason in 1691. The
territory included Portsmouth and Dover, and
extended sixty miles from the sea. The settlers
resisting his claims, a perplexing litigation fol
lowed. In the midst of it Mr. Allen died at
Newcastle May 5, 1705, aged 69. He sustained
an excellent character. Though attached to the
church of England, he attended the Congregational
meeting. His son, Thomas Allen of London,
continued the suit. The final verdict was against
him, in 1707, in the case, Allen vs. Waldron; —
he appealed, yet his death in 1715, before the
appeal was heard, put an end to the suit. The
principal reliance of the defendant w'as on the
Indian deed to Wheelright of 1629. This Mr.
Savage has satisfactorily showrn to be a forgery of
a later date. If so, it would seem, that the
Aliens were wrongfully dispossessed of a valuable
province. — Belknap's N. II. I. ; Savage's Win-
tlirop, I. 405 ; N. H. Coll. II. 137.
ALLEN, JAMES, first minister of Brookline,
Mass., was a native of Roxbury, and was gradua
ted at Harvard college in 1710. He was ordained
Nov. 5, 1718, and after a ministry of twenty-eight
years died of a lingering consumption Feb. 18,
1747, aged 55 years, with the reputation of a
pious and judicious divine. His successors were
Cotton Brown from 1748 to 1751; Nathaniel
Potter from 1755 to 1759; Joseph Jackson from
1760 to 1796 ; and John Pierce from 1797 to 1849.
In July, 1743, he gave his attestation to the revival
of religion, which took place throughout the
country, and made known the success, which had
attended his own exertions in Brookline. Almost
every person in his congregation was impressed
in some degree with the important concerns of
another world, and he could no more doubt, he
said, that there was a remarkable work of God,
than he could, that there was a sun in the
heavens. Afterwards, from peculiar circumstances,
18
ALLEN.
ALLEN.
perhaps from the apostasy of some, who had ap
peared strong in the faith, he was led to speak
of this revival " unadvisedly with his lips." This
produced an alienation among some of his former
friends. In his last hours he had a hope, which
he would not part with, as he said, for a thousand
worlds.
He published a thanksgiving sermon, 1722 ; a
discourse on Providence, 1727 ; the doctrine of
merit exploded, and humility recommended, 1727 ;
a fast sermon, on the earthquake, 1727 ; a sermon
to young men, 1731 ; a sermon on the death of
S. Aspinwall, 1733; an election sermon, 1744.
— Pierce's Cent. Discourse; Christian Hist. I.
394.
ALLEN, JAMES, member of the House of
Representatives of Massachusetts a number of
years, and a councillor, was graduated at Harvard
college in 1717, and died Jan. 8, 1755, aged 57.
In the beginning of 1749 he made a speech in
the House, censuring the conduct of the governor,
for which he was required to make an acknowl
edgment. As he declined doing this, the House
issued a precept for the choice of a new repre
sentative. When re-elected, he was not permitted
to take his seat ; but next year he took it, and
retained it till his death. — Minofs Hist. Mass.
I. 104-107.
ALL EX, WILLIAM, the first minister of Green
land, N. II., died in 1760, aged 84. A graduate
of Harvard in 1703, and settled in 1707, he had
been a minister fifty-three years. Mr.JNIacClin-
tock became his colleague in 17,36. Before his
settlement the people of G., then a part of
Portsmouth, were accustomed to walk six or
eight miles to P. to meeting.
ALLEN, "WILLIAM, chief justice of Pennsyl
vania, was the son of William Allen, an eminent
merchant of Philadelphia, who died in 1725.
On the approach of the Revolution he retired to
England, where he died Sept., 1780. His wife
•was a daughter of Andrew Hamilton, whom he
succeeded as recorder of Philadelphia in 1741.
He was much distinguished as a friend to litera
ture. He patronized Sir Benjamin West, the
painter. By his counsels and exertions Dr.
Franklin was much assisted in establishing the
college in Philadelphia. He published the
American crisis, London, 1774, in which he sug
gests a plan "for restoring the dependence of
America to a state of perfection." His principles
seem to have been not a little arbitrary. On his
resignation of the office of chief justice, to which
he had been appointed in 1750, he was succeeded,
till the Revolution, by Mr. Chew, attorney-general,
and Mr. Chew by his son, Andrew Allen. This
son died in London March 7, 1825, aged 85. At
the close of 177G he put himself under the
protection of Gen. Howe at Trenton, with his
brothers John and William. He had been a
member of Congress and of the Committee of
Safety; and William a lieutenant-colonel in the
continental service, but in 1778 he attempted to
raise a regiment of tories. — Miller's Retrospect,
n. 352; Proud's Hist. of-Pcnnsylvania,ll. 188;
Amer. Remembrancer, 1777, p. 56.
ALLEN, HEXRY, a preacher in Nova Scotia,
was born at Newport, R. I., June 14, 1748, and
began to propagate some very singular sentiments,
about the year 1778. He was a man of good
capacity, though his mind had not been much
cultivated, and though he possessed a warm
imagination. He believed, that the souls of all
men arc emanations or parts of the one great
Spirit, and that they were present Avith our first
parents in Eden and participated in the first
transgression ; that our first parents in innocency
were pure spirits without material bodies ; that
the body will not be raised from the grave ; and
that the ordinances of the Gospel are matters of
indifference. The Scriptures, he contended, have
a spiritual meaning, and are not to be understood
in a literal sense. He died at the house of Rev.
I). M'Clurc, Northampton, N. II., Eel). 2, 1784,
aud since his death his party has much declined.
He published a volume of hymns; and several
treatises and sermons. — Adams' View of Re
ligions , Benedict,!.. 282.
ALLEN, ETHAN, brigadier-general, was born
in 173.8, in Woodbury, Conn. His ancestor,
Nehcmiah, was a brother of Samuel, of North
ampton. His parents removed to Salisbury ; at
an early age he himself emigrated to Vermont.
At the commencement of the disturbances in this
territory about the year 1770 he took a most
active part in favor of the " Green Mountain Boys,"
as the settlers were then called, in opposition to
the government of New York. An act of out
lawry against him was passed by this State, and
50 pounds were offered for his apprehension ; but
his party was too numerous and faithful to permit
him to be disturbed by any apprehensions for his
safety ; in all the struggles of the day he was
successful; and he not only proved a valuable
friend to thore, whose cause he had espoused, but
he was humane and generous towards those, with
whom he had to contend. When called to take
the field, he showed himself an able leader and
an intrepid soldier.
The news of the battle of Lexington deter
mined Col. Allen to engage on the side of his
country, and inspired him with the desire of
demonstrating his attachment to liberty by some
bold exploit. While his mind was in this state, a
plan for taking Ticonderoga and Crown Point by
surprise was formed by Capts. Edward Mott and
Noah Phelps, of Hartford, Conn. They marched
privately April 29th, with sixteen unarmed men.
Arriving at Pittsfield, the residence of Col. James
Easton and John Brown, Esq., they communicated
ALLEN.
ALLEN.
19
the project to them and to Col. Ethan Allen, then
at Pittsfield. These gentlemen immediately en
gaged to co-operate and to raise men for the pur
pose. Of the Berkshire men and the " Green Moun
tain Boys " two hundred and thirty were collected,
under the command of Allen, and proceeded to
Castleton. Here he was unexpectedly joined
by Col. Arnold, who had been commissioned by
the Massachusetts committee to raise four hundred
men and effect the same object, which was now
about to be accomplished. As he had not raised
the men, he was admitted to act as an assistant to
Col. Allen. They reached the lake opposite
Ticonderoga Tuesday evening, May 9, 1775.
With the utmost difficulty boats were procured,
and eighty-three men were landed near the gar
rison. The approach of day rendering it danger
ous to wait for the rear, it was determined imme
diately to proceed. The commander-in-chief now
addressed his men, representing, that they had
been for a number of years a scourge to arbitrary
power, and famed for their valor, and concluded
with saying, " I now propose to advance before
you, and in person conduct you through the
wicket gate, and you, that will go with me volun
tarily in this desperate attempt, poise your fire
locks." At the head of the centre file he marched
instantly to the gate, where a sentry snapped his
gun at him and retreated through the covered
way ; he pressed forward into the fort, and formed
his men on the parade in such a manner as to
face two opposite barracks. Three huzzas awoke
the garrison. A sentry, who asked quarter,
pointed oat the apartments of the commanding
officer ; and Allen, with a drawn sword over the
head of Capt. De la Place, who was undressed,
demanded the surrender of the fort. " By what
authority do you demand it?" inquired the
astonished commander. " I demand it," said
Allen, " in the name of the great Jehovah and of
the Continental Congress." The summons could
not be disobeyed, and the fort, with its very
valuable stores and forty-nine prisoners, was im
mediately surrendered on May 10th. There
were from 112 to 120 iron cannon from 6 to 24
pounders, 2 brass cannon, 50 swivels, 2 mortars,
10 tons of musket balls, 3 cartloads of flints, 10
casks of powder, 30 new carriages, 100 stand of
small arms, 30 barrels of flour, and 18 barrels of
pork. Crown Point was taken the same day, and
the capture of a sloop of war soon afterwards
made Allen and his brave party complete masters
of Lake Champlain. May 18th, Arnold with
thirty-five men surprised the fort of St. John's in
Canada, taking fourteen prisoners, a sloop, and
two brass cannon. Allen, arriving the same day
with ninety men, resolved, against the advice of
Arnold, to attempt to hold the place. But he was
attacked the next day by a larger force from
Montreal, and compelled to retreat. In the fall
of 1775 lie was sent twice into Canada, to observe
the dispositions of the people, and attach them,
if possible, to the American cause. During tin's
last tour Col. Brown met him, and proposed an
attack on Montreal in concert. The proposal was
eagerly embraced, and Col. Allen, with one hun
dred and ten men, nearly eighty of whom were
Canadians, crossed the river in the night of Sept.
24. In the morning he waited with impatience
for the signal from Col. Brown, who agreed to co
operate with him ; but he waited in vain. He
made a resolute defence against an attack of five-
hundred men, and it was not till his own party
was reduced by desertions to the number of
thirty-one, and he had retreated near a mile, that
he surrendered. A moment afterwards a furious
savage rushed towards him, and presented his
firelock with the intent of killing him. It was
only by making use of the body of the officer, to
whom he had given his sword, as a shield, that he
escaped destruction. This rash attempt was made
without authority from Gen. Schuyler. He was
kept for some time in irons, and then sent to
England as a prisoner, being assured that the
halter would be the reward of his rebellion, when
he arrived there. On his passage, handcuffed
and fettered, he was shut up with his fellow
prisoners in the cable tier, a space twelve feet by
ten. After his arrival, about the middle of Decem
ber, he was lodged for a short time in Pcndennis
castle, near Falmouth. On the 8th of Jan., 1776,
he was put on board a frigate and by a circuitous
route carried to Halifax. Here he remained
confined in the gaol from June to October, when
he was removed to New York. During the pas
sage to tin's place, Capt. Burke, a daring prisoner,
proposed to kill the British captain and seize the
frigate ; but Col. Allen refused to engage in the
plot, and was probably the means of preserving
the life of Capt. Smith, who had treated him
very politely. He was kept at New York about a
year and a half, sometimes imprisoned, and some
times permitted to be on parole. While here, he
had an opportunity to observe the inhuman man
ner, in which the American prisoners were treated.
In one of the churches, in which they were
crowded, he saw seven lying dead at one time, and
others biting pieces of chips from hunger. He
calculated, that of the prisoners, taken at Long
Island and Fort Washington, near two thousand
perished by hunger and cold, or in consequence
of diseases occasioned by the impurity of their
prisons.
Col. Allen was exchanged for Col. Campbell
May 6, 1778, and after having repaired to head
quarters and offered his services to Gen. Wash
ington in case his health should be restored, he
returned to Vermont. His arrival, on the evening
of the last of May, gave his friends great joy, and
it was announced by the discharge of cannon.
20
ALLEN.
As an expression of confidence in his patriotism
and military talents, he was very soon appointed
to the command of the State militia. It does not
appear, however, that his intrepidity was ever
again brought to the test, though his patriotism
was tried by an unsuccessful attempt of the
British to bribe him to effect a union of Vermont
with Canada. Sir II. Clinton wrote to Lord
Germaine, Feb., 1781, "There is every reason to
suppose, that Ethan Allen has quitted the rebel
cause." He died of apoplexy at his estate in
Colchester Feb. 13, 1789, aged 51. His first wife
was Mary Brownson of Itoxbury ; his second wife
was Frances, daughter of Col. Brush of the
British army, whom he met in Boston on his
return from his captivity in England. Her
mother was the daughter of James Calcraft, a
soldier and a schoolmaster, whose name is now
changed to Schoolcraft. After his death she
married Dr. Pcnniman of Colchester. The
names of the other children of Joseph, Ethan's
father, were Ileman, Lydia, Hebcr, Levi, Lucy,
Zimri, and Ira ; their mother's name was Remem
brance Baker. His daughter Pamela married E.
W. Keyes, Esq., in 1803. Another daughter
entered a nunnery in Canada. He had lived for
a time in Sunderland. It was his project to make
a* city, Vergennes, a mile square. His son, Capt.
Ethan A. Allen, formerly of the army, died at
Norfolk Jan. 6, 1855 ; his grandson, Col. Hitch
cock of the army, is said to resemble him. From
this likeness Kinncy's statue of him was framed.
Gen. Allen possessed strong powers of mind,
but they never felt the influence of education.
Though he was brave, humane, and generous, yet
his conduct does not seem to have been much
influenced by considerations respecting that holy
and merciful Being, whose character and whose
commands arc disclosed to us in the Scriptures.
His notions with regard to religion Avere such, as
to prove that they, who rather confide m their
own wisdom than seek instruction from heaven,
may embrace absurdities, which would disgrace the
understanding of a child. He believed, with
Pythagoras, that men after death would trans
migrate into beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, etc., and
often informed his friends, that he himself ex
pected to live again in the form of a large white
horse.
Besides a number of pamphlets in the contro
versy with New York, he published in 1779 a
narrative of his observations during his captivity,
which was afterwards reprinted ; a vindication of
the opposition of the inhabitants of Vermont to
the government of New York, and their right to
form an independent State, 1779; and Allen's
theology, or the oracles of reason, 1786. Tin's
last work was intended to ridicule the doctrine of
Moses and the prophets. It would be unjust to
bring against it the charge of having effected
ALLEN.
great mischief in the Avorld, for few have had the
patience to read it. — Allen's Narrative; Boston
Weekly Magazine, II. ; Holmes' Annals, n. 207;
Williams' Vermont; Chronicle, March 5, 1789;
Marshall's Wash., II. 203-; III. 24; Gordon, II.
13, 160; Graham's Vermont; Encyc. Amer. ;
Du'ight's Travels, II. 409, 421 ; Amer. Eemenib.,
1778, p. 50.
ALLEN, IRA, first secretary of Vermont, the
brother of Ethan, was born at Cornwall, Conn,
about 1752, and in early life co-operated with his
brother in the controversy between Vermont and
New York, being a lieutenant under him. He
also took an active part on the lakes in the war
of 1775. Being a member of the Legislature in
1776 and 1777, he was zealous in asserting the
independence of Vermont. In Dec., 1777, he
assisted in forming the constitution of Vermont;
and soon afterwards was nominated surveyor-
general and treasurer. He and Bradley and Fay
were commissioners to Congress for Vermont in
1780 and 1781. In the politic negotiations with
Canada in 1781, designed to protect the people
of the " New Hampshire grants " from invasion,
Mr. Allen and Jonas Fay were the principal
agents. In 1789 he drew up a memorial in favor
of the establishment of a college at Burlington.
Having risen to the rank of eldest major-general
of the militia, he proceeded to Europe in
Dec., 1795, to purchase arms, by the advice of the
governor, for the supply of the State, but as a
private speculation by the sale of his lands, of
which he asserted, that he and the heirs of Ethan
held nearly three hundred thousand acres. He
went to France and purchased of the French re
public twenty-four brass cannon and twenty
thousand muskets at twenty-five livres, expecting
to sell them at fifty, a part of which he shipped
at Ostend in the Olive Branch ; but he was cap
tured Nov. 9, 1796, and carried into England. A
litigation of eight years in the court of admiralty
followed. He Avas charged Avith the purpose of
supplying the Irish rebels Avith arms. In 1798
he Avas imprisoned in France. He returned to
America in 1801. At length he procured a
decision in his favor. His residence, when in
Vermont, was at Colchester; but he died at
Philadelphia Jan. 7, 1814, aged 62, leaving seA'eral
children. He published the natural and political
history of Vermont, 1798, and statements appli
cable to the Olive Branch, Phila. 1807. — Pub.
Char., 1802, p. 234-248; Holmes, II. 472; Amer.
Eememb., 1782, p. 351, Part II. 74.
ALLEN, TIMOTHY, died at Chesterfield Jan.
12, 1806, aged 91. He Avas a minister of note in
his day. A graduate of Yale in 1736, he Avas
ordained at West IlaA'en in 1738, and dismissed
in 1742. In the time of Mr. "Whitfield he was a
zealous preacher, as mentioned by Trumbull.
His second settlement was at Ashford ; his last at
ALLEN.
Chesterfield. He published a sermon at his in
stallation, Ashford, 1761; answer to Pilate's ques
tion; the main point, 1166.
ALLEN, MOSES, minister of Midway, Ga., and
a distinguished friend of his country, was born in
Northampton, Mass., Sept. 14, 1748. He was
educated at the college in New Jersey, where he
was graduated in 1772 ; and was licensed by the
Presbytery of New Brunswick Feb. 1, 1774, and
recommended by them as an ingenious, prudent,
pious man. In his journal of this year he speaks
of passing a few days in December, at his earnest
request, with his friend, James Madison, in Vir
ginia, at the house of his father, Col. Madison,
and of preaching repeatedly at the court house,
and of being solicited to pass the winter there.
In March following he preached first at Christ's
church parish, about twenty miles from Charleston,
in South Carolina. Here he was ordained
March 16, 1775, by Mr. Zubly, Mr. Edmonds, and
William Tcnnent. He preached his farewell ser
mon in this place June 8, 1777, and was soon
afterwards established at Midway, to which place
he had been earnestly solicited to remove.
The British army from Florida under Gen.
Prevost dispersed his society in 1778, and burned
the meeting house, almost every dwelling house,
and the crops of rice then in stacks. In Decem
ber, when Savannah was reduced by the British
troops, he was taken prisoner. The continental
officers were sent to Sunbury on parole, but Mr.
Allen, who was chaplain to the Georgia brigade,
was denied that privilege. His warm exhorta
tions from the pulpit and his animated exertions
in the field exposed him to the particular resent
ment of the British. They sent him on board the
prison ships. Wearied with a confinement of a
number of weeks in a loathsome place, and seeing
no prospect of relief, he determined to attempt
the recovery of his liberty by throwing himself
into the river and swimming to an adjacent
point ; but he was drowned in the attempt on the
evening of Feb. 8, 1779, aged 30. His body was
washed on a neighboring island, and was found
by some of his friends. They requested of the
captain of a British vessel some boards to make
a coffin, but could not procure them.
Mr. Allen, notwithstanding his clerical function,
appeared among the foremost in the day of battle,
and on all occasions sought the post of danger as
the post of honor. The friends of independence
admired him for his popular talents, his courage,
and his many virtues. The enemies of indepen
dence could accuse him of nothing more, than a
vigorous exertion of all his powers in defending
the rights of his injured country. He Avas
eminently a pious man. — Ramsay, II. 6; Hist.
Coll. IX. 157 ; Allen's Ser. on M. Allen ; Hart.
ALLEN, THOMAS, brother of the preceding
and first minister of Pittsfield, Mass., was born
ALLEN.
21
Jan. 17, 1743, at Northampton, of which town
his great-grandfather, Samuel, was one of the first
settlers, receiving a grant of land from the town
Dec. 17, 1657. In the records of the town the
name is written variously, Allen, Allin, Allyn, and
Alyn. His grandfather, Samuel, who died in
1739, was a deacon of the church, of which
Jonathan Edwards was pastor. His father,
Joseph, who died Dec. 30, 1779, and his mother,
Elizabeth Parsons,, who died Jan. 10, 1800, both
eminent for piety, were the steady friends of Mr.
Edwards during the popular commotion, which
caused the removal of that excellent minister.
The church records commend her character, and
say, she assisted at the birth of three thousand
children.
Through the bequest of an uncle of his father,
— Mr. Thomas Allen, who died in 1754, — Mr.
Allen was educated at Harvard college, where he
was graduated in 1762, being ranked among the
best classical scholars of the day.
After studying theology under the direction of
Mr. Hooker of Northampton, Mr. Allen was
ordained April 18, 17G4, the first minister of Pitts-
field, so named in honor of William Pitt, — then
a frontier town, in which a garrison had been
kept during the French war. The Indian name
of the place was Pontoosuc. At the time of his
settlement there were in Pittsfield but half a
dozen houses not made of logs. He lived to see
it a rich and beautiful town, containing nearly
three thousand inhabitants. During a ministry
of forty-six years he was unwearied in dispensing
the glorious Gospel. Besides his stated labors on
the Sabbath, he frequently delivered lectures, and
in the course of his life preached six or seven
hundred funeral sermons. In the early part of
his ministry he also occasionally preached in the
neighboring towns, not then supplied with settled
ministers.
The same benevolence, which awakened his
zeal in guiding men in the way to heaven, made
him desirous of rendering them happy also in
this world. His charities to the poor excited
their gratitude and rendered his religious instruc
tions the more effectual. His house was the seat
of hospitality. Towards other denominations of
Christians, though strict in his own principles, he
was yet exemplarily candid, neither believing that
true piety was confined to his own sect, nor that
gentleness and forbearance were useless in the
attempt to reclaim men from error. At the com
mencement of the American Revolution, like
most of his brethren, he engaged warmly in the
support of the rights and independence of his
country, for he believed, that the security and per
manence of the best of earthly enjoyments, as
well as the progress of genuine religion, were in
timately connected with public liberty. Twice he
went out as a volunteer chaplain for a short
22
ALLEN.
time; — from Oct. 3 to Nov. 23, 1776, ho was
absent from home, with the army at White
Plains, near New York, and in June and July,
1777, he was at Ticonderoga. On the retreat of
St. Clair before Burgoyne he returned home.
But the next month, when a detachment from
Burgoyne's troops under the command of Col.
Baum had penetrated to the neighborhood of
Bennington, and threatened to desolate the coun
try, he accompanied the volunteer militia of
rittsficld, who marched to repel the invasion.
Previously to the assault of a particular intrench-
ment, which was filled with refugees, he deemed
it his duty to advance towards the enemy and
exhort them to surrender, assuring them of good
treatment, in a voice distinctly heard by them ;
but being fired upon, he rejoined the militia, and
was among the foremost, who entered the breast
work. His exertions and example contributed
somewhat to the triumph of that day, August
16th, which checked the progress of the British
and led to the capture of Burgoyne. After the
battle he found a Hessian surgeon's horse, loaded
with panniers of bottles of wine. The wine he
administered to the wounded and the weary ; but
two large square white glass bottles he carried
home with him, as trophies of his campaign of
three or four days. During the rebellion of
Shays, which extended to the county of Berk
shire, Mr. Allen supported the authority of the
established government of Massachusetts. The
insurgents at one period threatened to seize him
and carry him as a hostage into the State of New
York. But in his intrepidity he was not to be
shaken from his purpose and his duty. He slept
with arms in his bedroom, ready to defend him
self against the violence of lawless men. In the
new political controversy, which sprung up after
the adoption of the federal constitution, Mr. Al
len's principles attached him to what was called
the Democratic or Republican party. Among his
parishioners were some, who were tories in the
revolutionary war and who remembered with no
good will the zeal of their whig minister ; others
were furious politicians, partaking fully of the
malevolent spirit of the times, intent on accom
plishing their object, though with the weapons
of obloquy and outrage. " During the presidency
of Mr. Jefferson," says the history of Berkshire,
" that spirit of political rancor, that infected every
class of citizens in this country, arraying fathers,
brothers, sons, and neighbors against each other,
entered even the sanctuary of the church. A
number of Mr. Allen's church and congregation
withdrew, and were incorporated by the legisla
ture into a separate parish in 1808 ; thus present
ing to the world the ridiculous spectacle of a church
divided on party politics and known by the party
names of the day." This division was, however,
healed in a few years ; though not until after the
ALLEN.
death of him, whose last days were thus em
bittered, as well as by domestic afflictions in the
loss of his eldest son and daughter.
In Mr. Allen the strength of those affections,
which constitute the charm of domestic and social
life, was remarkable ; giving indeed peculiar
poignancy to the arrows of affliction, but also
swelling in a high degree the amount of good,
found in the pilgrimage of the earth.
After the death of his brother Moses Allen in
1779, he took a journey on horseback to Savan
nah, out of regard to the welfare of the widow and
her infant son, whom, while the war was raging at
the south, he placed for a time in a happy refuge
at his house. Mr. Allen's first-born daughter,
who married William P. White of Boston, died
in London, leaving an infant, unprotected by any
relatives, her husband being then in the East
Indies. Though the child was left under the care
of a very respectable gentleman, who was con
nected with its father in large mercantile busi
ness, yet such was his solicitude for its welfare,
that in the year 1799 he encountered the dangers
of a voyage across the Atlantic and brought his
grandchild home to his own family.
He sailed in the ship Argo, Capt. Rich. — On
the voyage many fears were awakened by a vessel
of force, which pursued the Argo, and was sup
posed to be a French ship. The idea of a prison
in France was by no means welcome. In the
expectation of a fight Mr. Allen obtained the
captain's consent to offer a prayer with the men
and to make an encouraging speech to them
before the action. The frigate proved to be
British ; and the deliverance was acknowledged in
a thanksgiving prayer. On his arrival at London
he was received with great kindness by his
friends, Mr. liobert Cowic and Mr. llobert Steel,
and was made acquainted with several of the dis
tinguished evangelical ministers of England ;
with Newton, and Ilawcis, and Rowland Hill, and
Bogue, and others, from whom he caught a pious
zeal for the promotion of foreign missions, which
on his return he diffused around him. He
regarded the London missionary society as the
most wonderful work of Divine Providence in
modern times. It appears from his journal, that
he was absent from Pittsfiekl from July 3d to
Dec. 30, 1799. His return passage was boisterous
and extended to the great length of eighty-five
days. Among other objects of curiosity, which
attracted his attention in London, he went to .see
the king, as he passed from St. James' to the
parliament house in a coach, drawn by six cream-
colored horses. On this sight he recorded the
following reflections : " This is he, who desolated
my country ; who ravaged the American coasts ;
annihilated our trade ; burned our towns ; plun
dered our cities ; sent forth his Indian allies to
scalp our wives and children ; starved our youth
ALLEN.
in his prison ships ; and caused the expenditure
of a hundred millions of money and a hundred
thousand of precious lives. Instead of being the
father of his people, he has been their destroyer.
May God forgive him so great guilt ! And yet he
is the idol of the people, who think, they cannot
live without him." In this journal he also re
corded with much confidence the following pre
diction : " This country will work the subversion
and ruin of the freedom and government of my
country, or my country will work the melioration
if not the renovation of this country." Late
events seem to prove, that the example of Ameri
can liberty has not been without a beneficial effect
in Great Britain.
His health had been declining for several years
before his death, and more than once he was
brought to the brink of the grave. For several
months he was unable to preach. He was fully
aware of his approaching dissolution, and the
prospects of eternity brightened, as he drew near
the close of life. Those precious promises, which
with peculiar tenderness he had often announced
to the sick and dying, were now his support. The
all-sufficient Saviour was his only hope ; and he
rested on him with perfect confidence. He was
desirous of departing, and was chiefly anxious,
lest he should be impatient,
KnoAving his dependence upon God, he contin
ually besought those, who were around his bed,
to pray for him. He took an affecting leave of
lu's family, repeating his pious counsels and be
stowing upon each one his valedictory blessing.
"When he was. reminded by a friend of his great
labors in the ministry, he disclaimed all merit for
what he had done, though he expressed his
belief, that he had plainly and faithfully preached
the Gospel. He forgave and prayed for his
enemies. When one of his children, a day or
two before his death, pressed him to take some
nourishment, or it would be impossible for him to
live, he replied, "Live? I am going to live
forever ! " He frequently exclaimed, " Come,
Lord Jesus ; come quickly." In the morning of
the Lord's day, Feb. 11, 1810, he fell asleep in
Jesus, in the GSth year of his age and the 46th
of his ministry. Among his children, who have
deceased since his departure, was one son, who
was a captain in service during the Avar of 1812.
Another, ])r. Elisha Lee Allen, officiated as sur
geon in the same Avar on the Niagara frontier, and
was retained on the peace establishment May,
1815. His account of the battle of ChippeAva
was published in the Boston Centinel Aug. 10,
1814. He died of the yclloAV fever at Pas
Christian, near New Orleans, Sept. 5, 1817.
Another son, Prof. Solomon M. Allen, died a feAv
days afterwards, Sept, 23, 1817. And Mrs.
Piiplcy, the wife of Maj.-Gcn. llipley, died at the
Bay of St. Louis of the yellow fever Sept. 11,
ALLEN.
23
1820. Mr. Allen's Avidow, Elizabeth, died March
31, 1830, aged 82 years. She Avas the daughter
of RCA-. J. Lee of Salisbury, and a descendant
from GOAT. Bradford.
He published a sermon on the death of his
daughter, Elizabeth White, 1798; on the death
of Moses Allen, son of Hcv. Moses Allen, 1801 ;
on the death of Anna Collins, 1803 ; on the death
of his son Thomas Allen, Jr., 180G ; election ser
mon, 1808. Several of his letters on the sickness
and death of his daughter Avere published in the"
Edinburgh Missionary Magazine for Oct. Nov. and
Dec., 1199. — Panoplist,- March, 1810; Hist, of
Berkshire, 377; Pittsfidd Sun, Feb. 21.
ALLEN, SOLOMON, a useful minister of the
Gospel, brother of the preceding, Avas born at
Northampton Feb. 23, 1701. He and four of his
brothers entered the army in the ReA-olutionary
Avar. Of these, tAvo, Moses and Thomas, Avhose
lives are here recorded, Avcrc chaplains. Another,
Maj. Jonathan Allen, after escaping the perils of
the sendee, Avas shot by his companion, Mr. Seth
Lyman, Avhile hunting deer in a deep snoAv in the
neighborhood of Northampton, in January, 1780,
aged 42 years. To such families of daring, self-
denying, zealous patriots and soldiers America is
indebted, through the blessing of God on their
sacrifices and toils, for her freedom and inde
pendence.
Mr. Solomon Allen, in the course of the war,
rose to the rank of major. At the time of the
capture of Andre he Avas a lieutenant and adju
tant, on serA'ice near the lines not far from NCAV
York. His account of the removal of Andre to
West Point, received from his OAATI lips, will cor
rect the errors of the other accounts, Avliich have
been given to the world. When the British spy
was brought to the American post, Col. Jameson
ordered Lieut. Allen to select a guard of nine
men out of three hundred, who were detached
from West Point as a covering party to Col. Weld's
(or Sheldon's) light horse on the hues sixty miles
from West Point, and to carry the prisoner to Gen.
Arnold, the commanding officer at West Point,
with a letter from Jameson to Arnold. Just at
night, Sept, 23, 1780, he set out Avith his prisoner,
Avho wore an old, torn crimson coat, nankeen A'est,
and small clothes, old boots and flapped hat.
Andre's arms being bound behind him, one of the
soldiers held the strap, which was around his
arm, and the guard on each side as well as before
and behind Avcre ordered to run him through, if
he attempted to escape. Lieut, Allen, riding
behind, assured Andre of good treatment, and
offered, if he should be tired, to dismount and
give him his horse. HaA'ing thus proceeded
seven miles, AAith much cheerfulness on the part
of the prisoner, an express overtook them Avith a
letter from Jameson of this import, that as the
enemy might have parties landed between them
24
ALLEN.
and West Point, Lieut. Allen was ordered to leave
the river road and take the prisoner immediately
over east to lower Salem and deliver him to Capt.
Hoogland, commanding there a company of light
horse ; then to take one of the guard and proceed
with Jameson's letter to Arnold at West Point,
sending the eight men back under the command
of the sergeant. The guard were unwilling to
comply, for they wished to get back to West
Point.' They said, there was no danger, and it
would be best to proceed ; and Andre seconded
the proposal. lie thought, the fear of a rescue
was very idle. But Lieut. Allen replied, like a
soldier, I must obey orders. From this moment
Andre appeared downcast. The same night
Allen delivered him to Hoogland, having travelled
twenty miles. In the morning of Sept. 24th he
proceeded with one of the guard to West Point,
it being arranged, that Andre should soon follow
him ; but the man being on foot, and the distance
forty or fifty miles, they did not arrive till the
forenoon of the 25th, at llobinson's house, the
east side of the river, opposite West Point, — the
residence of Arnold and the quarters of the
general officers. Arnold was in the buttery
eating, it being 10 or 11 o'clock ; on receiving the
letter from Jameson he was thrown into great
confusion; he, however, in a short time asked
Lieut. Allen up stairs to sit with Mrs. Arnold,
probably to keep him from an interview with the
other officers, and precipitately left the house and
fled. Such was Mr. Allen's statement. Wash
ington soon arrived, at 12 o'clock on the same
day, from Hartford, and in the afternoon the
treason was discovered by the arrival of the
packet from Jameson for Washington ; Andre
was brought to head-quarters the next day. On
the same day Adj. Allen was invited to dine at
head-quarters ; and at dinner he heard Gen.
Knox remark, "What a \eryfoTtunatc discovery
this was! Without it we should all have been
cut up." To which Gen. Washington very
gravely and emphatically replied, " I do not call
this a fortunate occurrence; but a remarkable
Providence! "
After the war Maj. Allen was a conspicuous
officer in quelling the insurrection of Shays. At
the age of forty his soul was conquered by the
power of the Gospel, which till then he had
resisted ; in a few years afterwards he was chosen
a deacon of the church of Northampton. As his
personal piety increased, he became solicitous to
preach the Gospel to his perishing brethren.
But, at the age of fifty, with no advantages of
education, there were formidable obstacles in his
way. The ministers around him suggested dis
couragements, as he could hardly acquire the
necessary qualifications. But his pious zeal was
irrepressible. There were various branches of
learning, which he could not hope to gain ; but
ALLEN.
" one thing he could do ; — he could bend all the
force of a naturally robust intellect to the work
of searching the Scriptures. This he did, and
while in this way he enriched his understanding
from their abundant treasures, his faith was
strengthened, his hope brightened, and all the
Christian graces were refreshed from that fountain
of living waters." He read also HOAVC'S and
Baxter's works. The former was in his view the
greatest of uninspired writers. From these
sources he drew his theology. He wrote out a
few sermons, and thus commenced the labor of
preaching, at first in a few small towns in
Hampshire county, but for the last years of his
life in the western part of the State of New York,
in Middletown at the head of Canandaigua Lake,
in Puga, Pittsford, Brighton, and other towns near
the Genesee lliver. Without property himself,
he preached the Gospel to the poor, and was per
fectly content with food and clothing, demanding
and receiving no other compensation for his ser
vices. He rejoiced in fatigues and privations in
the service of his blessed Master. Sometimes in
his journeys he reposed himself with nothing but
a blanket to protect him from the inclemency of
the weather. But, though poor, he was the means
of enriching many with the inestimable riches of
religion. Four churches were established by
him, and he numbered about two hundred souls,
as by his preaching reclaimed from perdition.
Though poor himself, there were those connected
with him, who were rich, and by Avhose liberality
he was enabled to accomplish his benevolent pur
poses. When one of his sons presented him
with a hundred dollars, he begged him to receive
again the money, as he had no unsupplicd wants
and knew not what to do with it ; but, as he was
not allowed to return it, he purchased with it
books for the children of his flock, and gave every
child a book. From such sources he expended
about a thousand dollars in books and clothing
for the people in the wilderness, while at the
same time he toiled incessantly in teaching them
the wray to heaven. Such an example of dis
interestedness drew forth from an enemy of the
Gospel the following remark : " This is a thing I
cannot get along with : this old gentleman, who
can be as rich as he pleases, comes here and does
all these things for nothing ; there must be some
thing in his religion."
In the autumn of 1820, after having been nearly
twenty years a preacher in the new settlements
of the west, his- declining health induced him to
bid adieu to his people, in order to visit once
more, before his death, his children and friends
in Massachusetts and in the cities of New York
and Philadelphia. His parting with his church at
Brighton was like the parting of Paul with the
elders of the church of Ephesus. Many of the
members of the church accompanied him to the
ALLEN.
ALLEX.
25
boat, and tears were shed and prayers offered on
the shore of Lake Ontario, as on the seacoast of
Asia Minor. Even the passengers in the boat
could not refrain from weeping at the solemnity
and tenderness of the scene. It was, as it was
apprehended to be, the last interview between the
beloved pastor and his people, until they meet
again in the morning of the resurrection of the
just. The attachment of children to Mr. Allen
was indeed remarkable. Wherever he went,
children, while they venerated his white locks,
would cling around his knees to listen to the
interesting anecdotes, which he would relate, and
to his warnings and instructions.
Mr. Allen revisited his friends, with a presenti
ment, that it was his last visit. lie had come, he
said, " to set his house in order," alluding to his
numerous children and grandchildren, living in
different places. It was his custom to address
them first individually, then collectively, and while
a heavenly serenity beamed upon his countenance,
he pressed upon them the concerns of another
world with plainness and simplicity, with pathos
and energy. He had the happiness to be per
suaded, that all his children, excepting one, were
truly pious ; and concerning that one he had the
strongest faith, that God would have mercy upon
him. After ten years that son espoused a cause,
which he never before loved, and manifested
much pious zeal.
At Pittsfield, where some of his relatives lived
and where his brother had been the minister, Mr.
Allen went through the streets, and, entering each
house, read a chapter in the Bible, exhorting all
the members of the family to serve God, and
praying fervently for their salvation. In like
manner he visited other towns. He felt, that the
time was short, and he was constrained to do all
the good in his power. With his white locks and
the strong impressive tones of his voice, and
having a known character of sanctity, all were
awed at the presence of the man of God. He
went about with the holy zeal and authority of an
apostle. In prayer Mr. Allen displayed a sub
limity and pathos, which good judges have
considered as unequalled by any ministers, whom
they have known. It was the energy of true
faith and strong feeling. In November he arrived
at New York, and there, after a few weeks, he
expired in the arms of his children Jan. 20, 1821,
aged 70 years. At his funeral his pall was borne
by eight clergymen of the city.
As he went down to the grave he enjoyed an
unbroken serenity of soul, and rejoiced and
exulted in the assured hope of eternal life in the
presence of his Redeemer in heaven. Some of
his last memorable sayings have been preserved
by Rev. Mr. Danforth in his sketch of his last
hours. If there are any worldly-minded ministers,
who neglect the sheep and lambs of the flock, —
any, who repose themselves in learned indolence,
— any, who are not bold to reprove and diligent
to instruct, — any, who are not burning with holy
zeal, nor strong in faith, nor fervent and mighty
in prayer ; to them the history of the ministry
and faithfulness of Mr. Allen might show to what
a height of excellence and honor they might
reach, did they but possess his spirit.
Mr. Allen published no writings to keep alive
his name on earth. He did not, like some learned
men, spend his life in laboriously doing nothing.
But he has a record on high ; and his benevolent,
pious, zealous toils have doubtless gained for him
that honor, which cometh from God, and which
will be green and flourishing, when the honors of
science and of heroic exploits and all the honors
of earth shall wither away. In his life there is
presented to the world a memorable example of
the power in doing good, which may be wielded
by one mind, even under the most unfavorable
circumstances, \vhen its energies are wholly
controlled by a spirit of piety. Though found in
deep poverty, such a pious zeal may mould the
characters of those, who by their industry and
enterprise acquire great wealth ; and thus may be
the remote cause of all their extensive charities.
One lesson especially should come home to the
hearts of parents ; teaching them to hope that by
their faithfulness and the constancy and impor
tunity of prayer all their offspring and a multitude
of their descendants will be rendered through the
faithfulness and mercy of God rich in faith, and be
made wise unto salvation. — Sketch of his last
hours, by J. N. Danfortli ; Sparks' Letters of
Washington, VII.
ALLEN, JONATHAN, minister of Bradford, died
in 1827, aged 77. He published a sermon at the
ordination of B. Thurston, 1786.
ALLEN, J:«IES, a poet, was born at Boston
July 24, 1739. It was his misfortune to be the
son of a merchant of considerable wealth.
From youth he was averse to study. He early
adopted free notions on religion. After remaining
three years at college, he afterwards lived at his
ease in Boston, without business and without a
family, displaying much eccentricity, till his death
, Oct., 1808, aged G9 years. Had he been without
property, he might have been impelled to some
useful exertion of his powers. He wrote a few
pieces of poetry — lines on the Boston massacre,
at the request of Dr. Warren, the Retrospect, &c.
— Spec, of Amer. Poetry, I. 160.
ALLEN, WILLIAM HENRY, a naval officer, was
born at Providence, R. I., Oct. 21, 1784. His
father, William Allen, was a major in the Revolu
tionary army, and in 1799 appointed brigadier-
general of the militia of the State. His mother
was the sister of Gov. Jones. Notwithstanding
the remonstrances of his father, who wished him
! to cultivate the arts of peace, he entered the navy
26
ALLEN.
as a midshipman in 1800 and sailed under Bain-
bridge to Algiers. After his return he again
sailed for the Mediterranean under Barren in the
Philadelphia; the third time, in 1802, under
Rodgers in the frigate John Adams; and the
fourth time, in 1804, as sailing master of the Con
gress. In his voyage, while the ship was lying to
in a gale, he fell from the fore yard into the sea,
and must have been lost, had he not risen close
by the mizzen chains, on which he caught hold.
Thus was he by a kind Providence preserved.
As lieutenant he repaired on board the Constitu
tion, commanded by Ilodgers, in Oct., 1805.
During the cruise he visited the mountains ^Etna
and Vesuvius and the cities Herculaneum and
Pompeii. Returning in 1806, he was the next
year on board the Chesapeake, when, without
fighting, she struck her colors to the British
frigate Leopard, — an event, which filled him with
indignation. He, in consequence, drew up the
letter of the officers to the secretary of the navy,
urging the arrest and trial of Com. Barron for
neglect of duty. During the embargo of 1808
he cruised off Block Island for the enforcement
of the law, but in his delicacy got excused from
boarding in person any vessel from his native
State. In 1809 he joined the frigate United States
as first lieutenant under Decatur. Soon after the
declaration of Avar in 1812 he was distinguished
in the action, Oct. 25th, which issued in the capture
of the Macedonian. The superior skill of the
United States in gunnery was ascribed to the
diligent training and discipline of Lieut. Allen.
lie carried the prize safely into the harbor of
New York amidst the gratulations of thousands.
Promoted to be master commandant, in 1813 he
conveyed Mr. Crawford, the minister, to France
in the brig Argus, and afterwards proceeded to
the Irish Channel, agreeably to orders, for the
purpose of destroying the English commerce.
His success was so great, that the injury inflicted
by him upon the enemy in the capture of twenty
vessels was estimated at 2,000,000 dollars. In
his generosity he never allowed the baggage of
passengers to be molested. On the 14th of Aug.
he fell in with the British brig Pelican, cruising
in the channel for the purpose of capturing the
Argus. Soon after the action commenced, Capt.
Allen was mortally wounded, and carried below ;
Lieut. Watson being also wounded, the command
for a time devolved on Lieut. W. H. Allen, Jr.
After a vigorous resistance of nearly an hour, the
Argus was captured, with the loss of six killed
and seventeen wounded. Capt. Allen was carried
into Plymouth the next day, his leg having been
amputated at sea. He died Aug. 15, 1813, aged
28 years, and was buried with military honors.
Capt. Allen was highly respected and esteemed in
private life, exhibiting a uniform courtesy and
amenity of manners. With great care he
ALLEN.
abstained from all irritating and insulting language.
ile united the milder graces with the stern and
masculine character of tLe sailor. The eager
desire of fame, called " the last infirmity of noble
minds," seemed to reign in his heart. Against
the wishes of all his friends he entered the naval
service, thirsting for honor and distinction, of
which he had his share ; but in early manhood he
died a prisoner in a foreign land. If there must
be victims to war, we could wish the defenders of
their country's rights a higher reward than fame.
Bailey's Naval Biography, 205-226.
ALLEN, SOLOMON METCALF, professor of lan
guages in Micldlebury college, Vermont, was the
son of Rev. T. Allen of Pittsfield, and was born
Feb. 18, 1789. lie received his second name on
account of his being a descendant on his mother's
side of Rev. Joseph Metcalf, first minister of
Falmouth. His father destined him to be a
farmer, as he was athletic and fond of active life ;
but, after he became pious, his friends being
desirous that he should receive a collegial edu
cation, he commenced the study of Latin at the
age of twenty. In 1813 he graduated at Middle-
bury with high reputation as a scholar. During
a year spent at Andover, besides attending to the
customary studies, he read a part of the New
Testament in the Syriac language. After officiat
ing for two years as a tutor, he was chosen in
1816 professor of the ancient languages, having
risen to this honor in seven years after commencing
the study of Latin. He lived to accomplish but
little, but long enough to show what the energy
of pious zeal is capable of accomplishing.
Respected and beloved by all his associates and
acquaintance, his sudden and awful death over
whelmed them with sorrow. Being induced, on
account of a defect in the chimney, to go
imprudently upon the roof of the college building,
he fell from it Sept. 23, 1817, and in consequence
died the same evening, aged 28 years. In his
last hours his numerous friends crowded around
him, " watching with trembling anxiety the flight
of his immortal soul to the kindred spirits of a
better world." Under the extreme anguish of his
dying moments, resigning the loveliness, which he
had hoped would be shortly his own, and all the
fair prospects of this world, he exclaimed : " The
Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice ! O Father,
thy will be done! So seemcth it good in thy
sight, O Lord." Professor Frederic Hall has
described his frank and noble character and his
many virtues, the tenderness of his heart and his
energy of mind. Another writer speaks of his
unwearied perseverance and unconquerable reso
lution, and says : " His march to eminence was
steady, rapid, and sure. Whether he turned his
attention to the abstruse and profound branches
of mathematical science or to the stores of ancient
classical learning, he solved every problem and
ALLEN.
overcame every obstacle with equal facility and
triumph." Mr. Allen was at Andover one of
" the group of stars," the friends of Carlos Wilcox,
alluded to by him in the following lines. The
others were Sylvester Lamed, Alexander M.
Fisher, Levi Parsons, Pliny Fisk, and Joseph R.
Andrus ; all recorded in this volume. These,
with Mr. Allen and Mr. Wilcox, all young men,
no longer shine on the earth ; but, it is believed,
they make a constellation of seven stars, like the
Pleiades, resplendent in heaven. May there be
in future many such groups in our theological
schools.
" Ye were a group of stars collected here,
Some mildly glowing, others sparkling bright ;
Here, rising in a region calm and clear,
Ye shone awhile with intermingled light ;
Then, parting, each pursuing his own flight
O'er the wide hemisphere, ye singly shone;
But, ere ye climbed to half your promised height,
Ye sunk again with brightening glory round you thrown,
Each left a brilliant track, as each expired alone."
— HalVs Eulogy; Wilcox 's Remains, 90; Na
tional Standard, Oct. 1, 1817.
ALLEN, PAUL, a poet, was born at Providence,
R. I., Feb. 15, 1775 ; his father, Paul Allen, being
a representative in the legislature, and his mother
the daughter of Gov. Cook. He was graduated
at Brown university in 1796 and afterwards
studied, but never practised, law. Devoted to
literature, he removed to Philadelphia and was
engaged as a writer in the Port-Folio and in the
United States Gazette, and was also employed to
prepare for the press the travels of Lewis and
Clark. After this he was for some time one of the
editors of the Federal Republican at Baltimore ;
but on quitting this employment he found him
self in impaired health and extreme indigence,
with a widowed mother dependent on him for
support. In his mental disorder, he believed
that he was to be waylaid and murdered. To
the disgrace of our laws he was thrown into jail
for a debt of 30 dollars. About this time he
wrote for the Portico, a magazine, associated with
Pierpont and Neal. His friends procured for
him the establishment of the Journal of the
Times, and afterwards of the Morning Chronicle,
which was widely circulated. Having long and
frequently advertised a history of the American
Revolution, of which he had written nothing, it
was now determined to publish it, an unequalled
subscription having been obtained. The work
appeared in two vols. in his name, but was written
by Mr. John Neal and Mr. Watkins ; Neal writing
the first vol., beginning with the Declaration of
Independence. His principal poem, called Noah
which has simplicity and feeling, was also sub
mitted to Mr. Neal, and reduced to one-fifth of
its original size, lie died at Baltimore in Aug.
1826, aged 51 years. He published origina
poems, serious and enter taining, 1801. A long
ALLEN.
27
extract from Noah is in Specimens of American
Poetry. — Spec. American Poetry, II. 185.
ALLEN, RICHARD, first bishop of the Afri-
an Methodist Episcopal church, died at Philadel
phia March 26, 1831, aged 71.
ALLEN, BEXJAMIX, Rector of St. Paul's church,
Philadelphia, died at sea in the brig Edward on
his return from Europe Jan. 27, 1829. He had
been the editor of the Christian Magazine, and
was a disinterested, zealous servant of God.
ALLEN, JEXXIXGS, died in Fail-field district,
S. C., Jan., 1835, aged 114; a soldier of the rev
olutionary army.
ALLEN, EPHRAEVI, died in Salem, N. Y., in
1816; a graduate of Harvard in 1789, and re
spected as a physician. His wife was a daughter
of Gen. Newhall.
ALLEN, HARRISOX, missionary among the
Choctaws, died at Eliot Aug. 19, 1831, aged 39.
Born in Chilmark, he graduated at Bowdoin in
1824, at Andover seminary in 1828. He arrived
at Eliot Jan., 1830.
ALLEN, BEXJAMIX, LL. D., died at Hyde
Park, N. Y., July 22, 1836, aged 65 ; once pro
fessor of mathematics at Union College, and long
the eminent head of a classical school at Hyde
Park.
ALLEN, MYRA, wife of D. O. Allen, mission
ary at Bombay, died suddenly, Feb. 5, 1831, aged
30. She was the daughter of Col. Abel Wood
of Westminster, Mass. ; a devoted and useful mis
sionary for the short period of three years. Her
character is described in the Miss. Herald for
1831 and 1832.
ALLEN, ORPAH, missionary, wife of 1). O.
Allen, died at Bombay June 5, 1842. Her name
was Graves, of Rupert, Vt. She went to Bombay
in 1834 and was married in 1838.
ALLEN, AZUBA, wife of D. O. Allen, mission
ary at Bombay, died June 11, 1843. Her name
was Condit. She left New York with her sister,
Mrs. Nevins, in 1836, and lived some time in
Batavia and Borneo before her marriage in Dec.,
1842. She died in peace and triumph.
ALLEN, SARAH Jonxsox, wife of William
Allen, died at Northampton Feb. 25, 1848, aged
57 ; a daughter of John M. Breed, a merchant
of Norwich, Conn. — While unmarried, she and
Sarah L. Iluntington, afterwards married to Dr.
Eli Smith, established and conducted a Sabbath
school among the Mohegan Indians near Nor
wich. In the result a church was built at their
residence in Montville, at which Gen. William
Williams was accustomed, last year, to visit them
every Sabbath as their teacher.
ALLEN, JOSEPH, died at Worcester Sept. 2,
1827, aged 78. Born in Boston, his mother was
a sister of Samuel Adams. He was a merchant
in Leicester, a benefactor and treasurer of the
academy. In 1776 he removed to Worcester, and
28
ALLEN.
ALLISON.
sustained various public offices, — was clerk of the
courts, a councillor, a member of congress, twice
one of the electors of president. His sons were
Charles and George Allen.
ALLEN, HEMAN, died in Burlington, Vt, Dec.
11, 1844, a brother of Ethan A., and a member
of congress. He was also minister to Chili.
ALLEN, JONATHAN, died at Pittsfield, May 26,
1845, aged 72. He was the son of Ilev. T. Allen,
and had been a senator of Massachusetts. He
greatly promoted the interests of agriculture by
introducing into Berkshire an excellent flock of
Spanish merino sheep, for which sole object he
crossed the ocean.
ALLEN, SAMUEL C., died at Northfield Feb.
8, 1845. A graduate of Dartmouth in 1794, he
was the minister of N. in 1795; but withdrew
from the pulpit and studied law. For twelve
years he was a member of congress. He pub
lished an oration July 4, 180G ; eulogy on
President John Whcelock, delivered at Hanover
Aug. 17, 1817.
ALLERTON, ISAAC, one of the first settlers
of Plymouth, came over in the first ship, the May
flower. His name appears the fifth in the agree
ment of the company, signed at Cape Cod, Nov.
11, 1620. There were six persons in his family.
Mary, his wife, died Feb. 25, 1621. His daugh
ter, Mary, married Elder T. Cushman, son of
Robert C., and died in 1699, aged about 90,
the last survivor of those, who came over in the
Mayflower. — Sarah married Moses Maverick of
Marblehead. In the summer or autumn of 1626
he went to England as agent for the colony ; and
he returned in the spring of 1627, having condi
tionally purchased for his associates the rights of
the adventurers for 1800 pounds, the agreement
being signed Nov. 15, 1626, and also hired for
them 200 pounds, at 30 per cent, interest, and ex
pended it in goods. He took a second voyage as
agent in 1627 and concluded the bargain with the
company at London Nov. 6, accomplishing also
other objects, particularly obtaining a patent for
a trading place in the Kennebec. Judge Davis
erroneously represents, that Mr. Prince dates the
departure of Mr. Allerton in the autumn ; but Mr.
Prince speaks only of his going " with the return
of the ships," probably June or July. The voyage
of the preceding year he regards as made " in the
fall ; " also the third voyage in 1628, for the pur
pose of enlarging the Kennebec patent. After
his return in August, 1629, he proceeded again
to England and with great difficulty obtained the
patent Jan. 29, 1630. A fifth voyage was made
in 1630, and he returned the following year in
the ship White Angel. He was an enterprising
trader at Penobscot and elsewhere. In 1633 he
•was engaged in " a trading wigwam," which was
lost at Machias. A bark of his was lost on Cape
Ann in 1635, and twenty-one persons perished,
among whom were John Avery, a minister, his
wife, and six children. The rock is called " Avery's
fall." From 1643 to 1659 he lived at New Haven,
and probably traded with the Dutch at New York.
In 1653 he received mackerel from Boston to sell
for half profits, and is called J. Allerton, senior. —
Point Alderton in Boston harbor is supposed to
be named from him. — His second wife, whom he
married before 1627, and who died of " the pest
ilent fever " in 1634, was Fear Brcwster, daughter
of Elder Brewster, who had another daughter,
Love, and a son, Wrestling. It seems, that he
was married again ; for coming from New Haven
in 1644, he was cast away with his wife Johanna
at Scituate, but was saved. He died in 1659 ; his
widow in 1684. His son Isaac was graduated in
1650 : — Elizabeth, his daughter, married B. Starr
and S. Eyre. Davis1 Morton, 38, 221, 389, 391 ;
Mass. His. Coll. III. 46 ; Prince, 242 ; Savage's
Winthr. I. 25; II. 210; /. Mathers' Rem. Prov.
ALLISON, FRANCIS, D. D., assistant minister
of the first Presbyterian church in Philadelphia,
was born in Ireland in 1705. After an early
classical education at an academy he completed
his studies at the university of Glasgow. He
came to this country in 1735, and was soon ap
pointed pastor of a Presbyterian church at New
London in Chester county, Penn. Here, about
the year 1741, his solicitude for the interests of
the Redeemer's kingdom and his desire of en
gaging young men in the work of the ministry
and of promoting public happiness by the diffu
sion of religious liberty and learning induced him
to open a public school. There was at this time
scarcely a particle of learning in the middle
States, and he generally instructed all, that came
to him, without fee or reward. — About the year
1747 he was invited to take the charge of an
academy in Philadelphia; in 1755 he was elected
vice provost of the college, which had just been
established, and professor of moral philosophy.
He was also minister in the first Presbyterian
church. In the discharge of the laborious duties,
which devolved upon him, he continued till his
death Nov. 28, 1777, aged 72.
Besides an unusually accurate and profound
acquaintance with the Latin and Greek classics,
he was well informed in moral philosophy, history,
and general literature. To his zeal for the diffu
sion of knowledge Pennsylvania owes much of
that taste for solid learning and classical literature,
for which many of her principal characters have
been so distinguished. The private virtues of Dr.
Allison conciliated the esteem of all that knew
him, and his public usefulness has erected a last
ing monument to his praise. For more than
forty years he supported the ministerial character
with dignity and reputation. In his public ser
vices he was plain, practical, and argumentative ;
warm, animated, and pathetic. He was greatly
ALLISON.
honored by the gracious Redeemer in being
made instrumental, as it is believed, in the salva
tion of many, who heard him. lie was frank and
ingenuous in his natural temper ; warm and zeal
ous in his friendships ; catholic in his sentiments ;
a friend to civil and religious liberty. His benev
olence led him to spare no pains nor trouble in
assisting the poor and distressed by his advice
and influence, or by his own private liberality. It
was he, who planned and was the means of estab
lishing the widows' fund, which was remarkably
useful. He often expressed his hopes in the
mercy of God unto eternal life, and but a few
days before his death said to Dr. Ewing, that he
had no doubt, but that according to the gospel
covenant he should obtain the pardon of his sins
through the great Redeemer of mankind, and
enjoy an eternity of rest and glory in the presence
of God. — He published a sermon delivered be
fore the synods of New York and Pennsylvania
May 24, 1758, entitled, peace and unity recom
mended. — Assembly's Miss. Mag. 1. 457 — 361;
Miller's Retrospect, II. 342; Holmes' Life of
Stiles, 98, 99.
ALLISON, PATRICK, D. D., first minister of the
Presbyterian church in Baltimore, was born in
Lancaster county in 1740, educated at the college
of Philadelphia, and installed in 17G2 at Balti
more, where he remained in eminent usefulness
till his death Aug. 21, 1802, aged 61. His few
publications were in favor of civil and religious
liberty.
ALLSTON, JOSEPH, general, was elected gov
ernor of South Carolina in 1812. He died at
Charleston Sept. 10, 1816, aged 38. His wife,
the daughter of Col. Aaron Burr, was lost at sea
on her passage from Charleston to New York in
1812.
ALLSTON, WILLIAM, colonel, senator in the
first congress, died at Charleston June 26, 1839,
aged 82. One of the largest owners of his fellow
men in the State, his slaves cultivated his paternal
estate near Georgetown. He was an officer
under Marion ; and the father of Gov. A.
ALLSTON, WASHINGTON, a very distinguished
painter, died at Cambridge July 9, 1843, aged 63.
He was born of a respected family in Charleston,
S. C., Nov. 5, 1779. After being in the school
of R. Rogers, Newport, he graduated at Harvard
in 1800. He was early fond of music, painting,
and poetry. In order to cultivate his taste for
painting he sold his patrimonial estate, and
entered in 1801 the Royal Academy in London,
of which Benjamin West, an American, was the
president. In 1804 he passed over to Paris and
thence to Italy. Thus he was eight years in
Europe, studying the works of the great masters,
and enjoying the friendship of poets and painters
in England and Italy. Among his friends were
the poets Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge ;
ALSOP.
29
and among the painters Reynolds, West, and
Fuseli.
In 1809 he returned to America, and the next
year delivered a poem at Cambridge at the annual
meeting of the Phi Beta Kappa society, when the
writer of this had the honor of being his literary
associate, and of delivering the prose address on
that occasion; and after the lapse of forty-six
years I remember well his ample locks, and fine,
interesting, animated, spiritual countenance. At
this period he married the sister of Dr. Channing.
The years from 1811 to 1818 he also spent in
England, where he published in 1813 the sylphs
of the seasons and other poems. God afflicted
him by bereaving him of his wife ; but led him to
seek earnestly the permanent consolations of re
ligion. His faith was strong in the incarnation
of the Son of God ; and he had recourse to the
sacraments of the church.
On his return in 1818 he made Boston his
home ; but soon built him a house and studio in
Cambridge, where he married a daughter of Judge
Dana in 1830. His principal works as a painter
were, " the dead man restored to life by Elijah,"
" the angel liberating Peter from prison," " Jacob's
dream," " Elijah in the desert," " the angel Uriel
in the sun," " Saul and the witch of Endor,"
" Spalatro's vision of the bloody hand," " Gabriel
setting the guard of the heavenly host," " Anna
Page and Slender," " Beatrice," and " Belshazzar's
Feast," — his last work. He died suddenly. He
possessed a powerful and brilliant imagination ;
and as a colorist he was called the American
Titian. His brother, William Moore A., died at
Newrport in 1844, aged 62. Receiving by the will
of his father a young slave, named Diana, he
emancipated her, and she became the mother of
freemen in Charleston. His faith in the atone
ment and his Christian character were commended
in a sermon by Mr. Albro of Cambridge. Besides
his poems, he also published Monaldi, a prose
tale ; lectures on art and poems, with a preface
by Mr. Dana, N. Y., 1850.
ALLYN, MATTHEW, judge, died at Windsor,
Conn., in 1758, aged 97. He was a colonel, a
councillor, a judge of the supreme court.
ALLYN, JOHN, D. D., the minister of Duxbury,
died July 19, 1833, aged 66. He was born in
Barnstable, and was a graduate of 1785 ; ordained
in 1788. Benj. Kent was his colleague in 1826.
A memoir by C. Francis, his son-in-law, is in
Hist. Coll. III., vol. 5.
He published a sermon at the ordination of
A. Bradford, 1793; at thanksgiving, 1798; at
Hanover, 1799; at Plymouth, 1801; at election,
1805 ; at New Year's, 1806 ; Christian Monitor,
1806, being prayers, &c. ; at Sandwich, 1808 ; also
two charges, and obituary notices of Drs. West
and Barnes.
ALSOP, GEORGE, published "a character of
30
ALSOP.
the province of Maryland," describing the laws,
customs, commodities, usage of slaves, &c. ; also
" a small treatise of the wild and native Indians,
&c." London, 1GG6, pp. 118.
ALSOP, RICHARD, a poet, the son of Richard
A. and Mary Wright, was born in Middletown,
Conn., in 1759, and was a merchant, as was his
father. He died at Flatbush, L. I., Aug. 20,
1815, aged 56 years, with a character of correct
morality. Several of his poetical compositions
are preserved in the volume entitled " American
Poetry." In 1800 he published a monody, in
heroic verse, on the death of Washington, and
in 1808 a translation from the Italian of a part
of Berni's Orlando Inamorato, under the title of
the Fairy of the Enchanted Lake. He published
also several prose translations from the French
and Italian, among which is Molini's history of
Chili, with notes, 4 vols. 8 vo., 1808. This was
republished in London without acknowledgment
of its being an American translation. In 1815 he
published the narrative of the captivity of J. R.
Jewitt at Nootka Sound. The Universal Receipt
Book was compiled also by him. Among numer
ous unpublished works, left by him, is the poem
called The Charms of Fancy. He wrote for
amusement, and made but little effort for literary
distinction ; yet his powers were above the com
mon level. With a luxuriant fancy he had a
facility of expression. In 1791 the Echo was
commenced at Hartford, being a series of bur
lesque, poetic pieces, designed at first to ridicule
the inflated style of Boston editors. The plan
was soon extended, so as to include politics. The
writers were Alsop, Theodore Dwight, Hopkins,
Trumbull, and others, called the "Hartford wits."
This was republished with other poems in 1807.
Alsop wrote more of the Echo than any other
contributor ; also the Political Greenhouse in the
same volume. His mother, who had been a
widow about fifty years, died in Oct., 1829, aged
90. Mr. A.'s widow married Samuel W. Dana,
a member of Congress ; one sister married
Theodore Dwight, and another married Mr.
Ililey of New York. — Spec. Amcr.Poet. n.
AMERICUS VESPUCIUS, or more properly
Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine gentleman, from
whom America derives its name, was born March
9, 1451, of an ancient family. His father, who
was an Italian merchant, brought him up in this
business, and his profession led him to visit Spain
and other countries. Being eminently skilful in
all the sciences subservient to navigation, and
possessing an enterprising spirit, he became
desirous of seeing the new world, which Columbus
had discovered in 1492. He accordingly entered
as a merchant on board the small fleet of four
ships, equipped by the merchants of Seville and
sent out under the command of Ojeda. The
enterprise was sanctioned by a royal license.
AMERICUS.
According to Amerigo's own account he sailed
from Cadiz May 20, 1497, and returned to the
same port October 15, 1498, having discovered
the coast of Paria and ,passed as far as the Gulf
of Mexico. If this statement is correct, he saw
the continent before Columbus ; but its correct
ness has been disproved ; and the voyage of
Ojeda was not made until 1499, which Amerigo
calls his second voyage, falsely representing that
he himself had the command of six vessels. He
sailed May 20, 1499, under the command of
Ojeda, and proceeded to the Antilla Islands, and
thence to the coast of Guiana and Venezuela, and
returned to Cadiz in Nov., 1500. After his
return Emanuel, king of Portugal, who was
jealous of the success and glory of Spain, invited
him to his kingdom, and gave him the command
of three ships to make a third voyage of discovery.
He sailed from Lisbon May 10, 1501, and ran
down the coasts of Africa as far as Sierra Leone
and the coast of Angola, and then passed over to
Brazil in South America, and continued his dis
coveries to the south as far as Patagonia. He
then returned to Sierra Leone and the coast of
Guinea, and entered again the port of Lisbon
Sept, 7, 1502.
King Emanuel, highly gratified by his success,
equipped for him six ships, with which he sailed
on his fourth and last voyage May 10, 1503. It
was his object to discover a western passage to
the Molucca Islands. He passed the coasts of
Africa, and entered the Bay of All Saints in
Brazil. Having provision for only twenty months,
and being detained on the coast of Brazil by bad
weather and contrary winds five months, he
formed the resolution of returning to Portugal,
where he arrived June 14, 1504. As he carried
home with him considerable quantities of the
Brazil wood, and other articles of value, he was
received with joy. It was soon after this period,
that he wrote an account of his four voyages.
The work was dedicated to Rene II., duke of Lor
raine, who took the title of king of Sicily, and
Avho died Dec. 10, 1508. It was probably pub
lished about the year 1507, for in that year he
went from Lisbon to Seville, and King Ferdinand
appointed him to draw sea charts, with the title
of chief pilot. He died at the island of Tercera
in 1514, aged about 63 years, or, agreeably to
another account, at Seville, in 1512.
As he published the first book and chart
describing the new world, and as he claimed the
honor of first discovering the continent, the new
world has received from him the name of
America. His pretensions, however, to this first
discovery do not seem to be well supported against
the claims of Columbus, to whom the honor is
uniformly ascribed by the Spanish historians, and
who first saw the continent in 1498. Ilerrera,
who compiled his general history of America
AMES.
AMES.
31
from the most authentic records, says, that
Amerigo never made but two voyages, and those
were with Ojeda in 1499 and 1501, and that his
relation of his other voyages was proved to be a
mere imposition. This charge needs to be con
firmed by strong proof, for Amerigo's book was
published within ten years of the period assigned
for his first voyage, when the facts must have been
fresh in the memories of thousands. Besides the
improbability of his being guilty of falsifying
dates, as he was accused, which arises from this
circumstance, it is very possible, that the Spanish
writers might have felt a national resentment
against him for having deserted the service of
Spain. But the evidence against the honesty of
Amerigo is very convincing. Neither Martyr nor
Bcnzoni, who were Italians, natives of the same
country, and the former of whom was a contem
porary, attribute to him the first discovery of the
continent. Martyr published the first general
history of the new world, and his epistles contain
an account of all the remarkable events of his
time. All the Spanish historians are against
Amerigo. Herrera brings against him the testi
mony of Ojeda as given in a judicial inquiry.
Fonseca, who gave Ojeda the license for his
voyage, was not reinstated in the direction of
Indian affairs until after the time, which Amerigo
assigns for the commencement of his first voyage.
Other circumstances might be mentioned; and
the whole mass of evidence it is difficult to resist.
The book of Amerigo was probably published
about a year after the death of Columbus, when
his pretensions could be advanced without the
fear of refutation from that illustrious navigator.
But however this controversy may be decided, it
is well known, that the honor of first discovering
the continent belongs neither to Columbus nor
to Vespucci, even admitting the relation of the
latter; but to the Cabots, who sailed from
England. A life of Vespucci was published at
Florence by Bandini, 174,3, in which an attempt
is made to support his pretensions.
The relation of his four voyages, which was
first published about the year 1507, was re-
published in the Novus Orbis, fol. 1555. His
letters were published after his death at Florence.
— Moreri, Did. Historique; New and Gen.
Biog. Diet. ; Robertson's 8. America I. Note 22 ;
Holmes' Annals, I. 16; Herrera, I. 221; Prince,
Introd. 80-82 ; Irving's Columbus, III. App. 9.
AMES, NATHANIEL, a physician, died at Ded-
ham, Mass., in 1765, aged 57. He had published
for about forty years an almanac, which was in
high repute. His taste for astronomy he acquired
from his father, Nathaniel Ames, of Bridgewater,
who died in 1736, and who was not, as Dr. Eliot
supposed, a descendant of the famous William
Ames, lie married two wives, each of the name
of Fisher. His most distinguished sou bore that
1 name. His son, Dr. Nathaniel Ames, a graduate
of 1761, died at Dedham in 1822, aged 82 ; an
other son, Dr. Seth Ames, a graduate of 1764,
settled at Amherst, N. II., but removed to Ded
ham, where he died in 1776. His widow, who
married Mr. Woodward, died in 1818, aged 95.
Mass. Hist. Coll. N. S. vn. 154; Hist. Coll. N.
H. n. 79.
AMES, FISHER, LL. D., a distinguished states
man and eloquent orator, was the son of the pre
ceding, and Avas born at Dedham April 9, 1758.
He was graduated at Harvard college in 1774,
I and after a few years commenced the study of the
I law in Boston. lie began the practice of his pro
fession in his native village ; but his expansive mind
could not be confined to the investigation of the
law. Rising into life about the period of the
American Revolution, and taking a most affection
ate interest in the concerns of his country, he felt
himself strongly attracted to politics. His re
searches into the sciences of government were
extensive and profound, and he began to be known
by political discussions, published in the newspa
pers. A theatre soon presented for the display
of his extraordinary talents. He was elected a
member of the convention of his native state,
which considered and ratified the federal consti
tution ; and his speeches in this convention were
indications of his future eminence. The splendor
of his talents burst forth at once upon his coun
try.
When the general government of the United
States commenced its operations in 1789, he ap
peared in the national legislature as the first rep
resentative of his district, and for eight successive
years he took a distinguished part in the national
councils. He was a principal speaker in the de
bates on every important question. Towards the
close of this period his health began to fail, but
his indisposition could not prevent him from en
gaging in the discussion relating to the appropri
ations necessary for carrying into effect the British
treaty. Such was the effect of his speech of
April 28, 1796, that one of the members of the
legislature, who was opposed to Mr. Ames, rose
and objected to taking a vote at that time, as they
had been carried away by the impulse of oratory.
After his return to his family, frail in health and
fond of retirement, he remained a private citizen.
For a few years however he was persuaded to be
come a member of the council. But, though he
continued chiefly in retirement, he operated far
around him by his writings in the public papers.
A few years before his death he was chosen pres
ident of Harvard college, but the infirm state of
his health induced him to decline the appoint
ment. He died on the morning of July 4, 1808.
His wife, Frances Worthington, was the daughter
of John Worthington, of Springfield. He left
seven children ; his only daughter died in 1829.
32
AMES.
Mr. Ames possessed a mind of a great and ex
traordinary character. He reasoned, but he did
not reason in the form of logic. By striking allu
sions, more than by regular deductions, he com
pelled assent. The richness of his fancy, the
fertility of his invention, and the abundance of
his thoughts were as remarkable as the justness
and strength of his understanding. His political
character may be known from his writings, and
speeches, and measures. He was not only a man
of distinguished talents, whose public career was
splendid, but he was amiable in private life and
endeared to his acquaintance. To a few friends
he unveiled himself without reserve. They found
him modest and unassuming, untainted with am
bition, simple in manners, correct in morals, and
a model of every social and personal virtue. The
charms of his conversation were unequalled.
He entertained a firm belief in Christianity, and
his belief was founded upon a thorough investi
gation of the subject. He read most of the best
writings in defence of the Christian religion, but
he was satisfied by a view rather of its internal
than its external evidences. He thought it im
possible, that any man of a fair mind could read
the Old Testament and meditate on its contents
without a conviction of its truth and inspiration.
The sublime and correct ideas, which the Jewish
scriptures convey of God, connected with the fact
that all other nations, many of whom were supe
rior to the Jews in civilization and general im
provement, remained in darkness and error on
this great subject, formed in his new a conclusive
argument. After reading the book of Deuter
onomy he expressed his astonishment, that any
man versed in antiquities could have the hardi
hood to say, that it was the production of human
ingenuity. Marks of Divinity, he said, were
stamped upon it. His views of the doctrines of
religion were generally Calvinistic. An enemy
to the metaphysical and controversial theology,
he disliked the use of technical and sectarian
phrases. The term trinity however he frequently
used with reverence, and in a manner, which im
plied his belief of the doctrine. His persuasion
of the divinity of Christ he often declared, and
his belief of this truth seems to have resulted
from a particular investigation of the subject, for
he remarked to a friend, that he once read the
evangelists with the sole purpose of learning what
Christ had said of himself.
He was an admirer of the common translation
of the Bible. He said it was a specimen of pure
English; and though he acknowledged, that a
few phrases had grown obsolete, and that a few
passages might be obscurely translated, yet he
should consider the adoption of any new translation
as an incalculable evil. He lamented the prevail
ing disuse of the Bible in our schools. lie thought,
that children should early be made acquainted
AMES.
with the important truths, which it contains, and
he considered it as a principal instrument of mak
ing them acquainted with their own language in
its purity. He said, " I will hazard the assertion,
that no man ever did or ever will become truly
eloquent, without being a constant reader of the
Bible, and an admirer of the purity and sublim
ity of its language." He recommended the teach
ing of the Assembly's Catechism ; not perhaps
because he was perfectly satisfied with every ex
pression, but because, as he remarked, it was a
good thing on the whole, because it had become
venerable by age, because our pious ancestors
taught it to their children with happy effect, and
because he was opposed to innovation, unwilling
to leave an old, experienced path for one new
and uncertain. On the same ground he approved
the use of Watts' version of the Psalms and
Hymns. No uninspired man, in his judgment,
had succeeded so well as Watts in uniting with the
sentiments of piety the embellishments of poetry.
Mr. Ames made a public profession of religion
in the first congregational church in Dedham.
With this church he regularly communed, till pre
cluded by indisposition from attending public
worship. His practice corresponded with his
profession. His life was regular and irreproacha
ble. Pew, who have been placed in similar cir
cumstances, have been less contaminated by inter
course with the world. It is doubted, whether
any one ever heard him utter an expression cal
culated to excite an impious or impure idea. The
most scrutinizing eye discovered in him no dis
guise or hypocrisy. His views of himself however
were humble and abased. He was often observed
to shed tears, while speaking of his closet devo
tions and experiences. He lamented the cold
ness of his heart and the wanderings of his
thoughts while addressing his Maker, or medi
tating on the precious truths, which he had re
vealed. In his last sickness, when near his end,
and when he had just expressed his belief of his
approaching dissolution, he exhibited submission
to the Divine will and the hope of the Divine fa
vor. " I have peace of mind," said he. " It may
arise from stupidity ; but I think it is founded on
a belief of the Gospel." At the same time he
disclaimed every idea of meriting salvation. " My
hope," said he, " is in the mercy of God, through
Jesus Christ."
Mr. Ames' speech in relation to the British
treaty, which was delivered April 28, 179G, is a
fine specimen of eloquence. He published an
oration on the death of Washington in 1800, and
he wrote much for the newspapers. His political
writings Avere published in 1809, in one volume,
8vo., with a notice of his life and character by-
President Kirkland. — Panoplist, July, 1800;
Dexter's Funeral Eulogy; Marshall's Washing
ton, v. 203 ; Ames1 Works.
AMES.
ANDERSON.
33
AMES, NATHANIEL, son of Fisher Ames, died
Jan. 18, 1835; author of mariner's sketches;
nautical reminiscences ; and old sailors' yarns.
AMES, N. P., died at Cabotville April 23,
1847, aged 44 ; a large manufacturer of firearms,
and a man of sound judgment and practical skill.
AMHERST, JEFFREY, lord, commander-in-
chief of the British army at the conquest of Canada
in 1760, was born in Kent, England, Jan. 29,
1717. Having early discovered a predilection for
the military life, he received his first commission
in the army in 1731, and was aid-de-camp to
Gen. Ligonier in 1741, in which character he was
present at the battles of Dettingen, Fontenoy,
and Rocoux. He was afterward aid-de-camp to
his royal highness, the duke of Cumberland, at
the battle of Laffeldt. In 1758 he received orders
to return to England, being appointed for the
American service. He sailed from Portsmouth
March 16th as major-general, having the command
of the troops destined for the siege of Louisbourg,
On the 26th of July following he captured that
place, and without farther difficulty took entire
possession of the island of Cape Breton. After
this event he succeeded Abercrombie in the com
mand of the army in North America. In 1759
the vast design of the entire conquest of Canada
was formed. Three armies were to attack at
nearly the same time all the strongholds of the
French in that country. They were commanded
by Wolfe, Amherst, and Prideaux. Gen. Am-
herst in the spring transferred his head-quarters
from New York to Albany ; but it was not till
the 22d of July, that h<5 reached Ticonderoga,
against which place he was to act. On the 27th
this place fell into his hands, the enemy having
deserted it. He next took Crown Point, and put
his troops in winter quarters about the last of Oc
tober. In the year 1760 he advanced against
Canada, embarking on lake Ontario and proceed
ing down the St. Lawrence. On the 8th of Sep
tember M. de Vaudreuil capitulated, surrendering
Montreal and all other places within the govern
ment of Canada.
He continued in the command in America till
the latter end of 1763, when he returned to Eng
land. The author of the letters of Junius was
his friend, and in Sept., 1768, wrote in his favor.
In 1771 he was made governor of Guernsey, and
in 1776 he was created Baron Amherst of Holms-
dale in the county of Kent. In 1778 he com
manded the army in England. At this period
Lord Sackville, to whom the letters of Junius
have been ascribed, was one of the king's minis
ters ; and he had been intimate with Amherst
from early life. In 1782 he received the gold
stick from the king ; but on the change of the
administration the command of the army and the
lieutenant-generalship of the ordnance were put
into other hands. In 1787 he received another
patent of peerage, as Baron Amherst of Mont
real. In January, 1793, he was again appointed
to the command of the army in Great Britain ;
but in 1795 this veteran and very deserving offi
cer was superseded by his royal highness, the
Duke of York, the second son of the king, who
was only in the thirty-first year of his age, and
had never seen any actual service. The govern
ment upon this occasion, with a view to soothe the
feelings of the old general, offered him an earldom
and the rank of field marshal, both of which he
at that time rejected. The office of field marshal
however he accepted in July, 1796. He died
without children at his seat in Kent August 3,
1797, aged eighty years. — Watkins; Holmes'
Annals, II. 226-246, 498; Marshall, I. 442-470;
Minot, II. 36.
AMY, a slave, died at Charleston in 1826, said
to be aged 140, and that she came to C. when
there were but six small buildings there.
ANDERSON, RUFUS, minister of Wenhnm,
Mass., was born in Londonderry Mai'ch 5, 1765,
and graduated at Dartmouth college in 1791. In
consequence of a religious education his mind was
early imbued with the truths of the gospel. He
was ordained pastor of the second church in
North Yarmouth Oct. 22, 1794. After a ministry
of ten years he was dismissed, and installed July
10, 1805, at Wenham, where he died Feb., 1814.
Dr. Worcester has described his excellent charac
ter, and spoken of his useful labors and peaceful
death. He published two discourses on the fast,
1802; and seven letters against the close com
munion of the Baptists, 1805. — Worcester's Fu
neral Sermon ; Panoplist, x. 307.
ANDERSON, JAMES, the first Presbyterian
minister in the city of New York, began his
labors in Oct., 1717. He was born in Scotland in
1678; came to Philadelphia in 1710, and became
the pastor of Newcastle. His high notions of
church authority occasioned a division of his
church in N. Y. To the seceders Jonathan
Edwards was the preacher for some months. Mr.
A. accepted in 1727 a call to Donegal, in Penn.,
and was succeeded in N. Y. by Mr. Pemberton.
ANDERSON, JAMKS, M. D.", an eminent phy
sician of Maryland, died at his seat near Chestcr-
town Dec. 8, 1820, in the 69th year of his age.
He studied at Philadelphia and at Edinburgh.
His father was a physician from Scotland. Dr.
Anderson was learned and skilful, and highly
respected in all the relations of life. As a Chris
tian he was distinguished, — in his peculiar views
being a disciple of AVcsley. With exemplary
patience and meekness he submitted to painful
illness, and died in peace. — T/tacher's Msd.
Biography.
ANDERSON, RICHARD, minister of the United
States to Colombia, was a native of Kentucky, and
for some years a member of Congress. Being
34
ANDRE.
appointed envoy extraordinary to the assembly
of American nations at Panama, while on his way
to that place he died at Carthagena July 24, 1826.
On his former visit to Colombia he lost his excel
lent -wife. His father, Richard C. Anderson, died
Nov. 6. — Mr. Anderson was a very amiable man,
of a discriminating mind, and very discreet and
conciliatory as a politician.
ANDERSON, JOHN WALLACE, M. D., physi
cian to the colony in Liberia, was the son of Col.
Richard Anderson, and born in Ilagerstown, Mary
land, in 1802. His medical education was at
Philadelphia, where he took his degree in 1828,
and afterwards settled as a physician at Hagers-
town. Here, at his home, amidst all the happi
ness of the family circle and of religious institu
tions, he formed the purpose of devoting his life
to the colonists of Liberia. He hoped to benefit
them by his medical skill, and was particularly
anxious to promote the cause of temperance in
Africa. He sailed Jan. 17, 1830, and arrived at
the colony Feb. 17. Dr. Mechlin, the agent, now
returning, the affairs of the colony were commit
ted to Dr. Anderson ; but he died of the African
fever April 12, aged 27 years. In his illness he
was resigned and joyful in the hope of salvation.
He requested, that the following sentence might
be inscribed on his tombstone : — " Jesus, for thee
I live, for thee I die ! " — Afric. Repos. vi. 189—
191.
ANDRE, JOHN, aid-dc-camp to Sir Henry
Clinton, and adjutant-general of the British army
in the Revolutionary war, was born in England in
1749. His father was a native of Geneva, and a
considerable merchantman the Levant trade ; he
died in 1769. Young Andre was destined to
mercantile business, and attended his father's
counting-house, after having spent some years
for his education at Geneva. He first entered
the army in Jan., 1771. At this time he had a
strong attachment to Honoria Sneyd, who after
wards married Mr. Edgcworth. In 1772 he vis
ited the courts of Germany, and returned to
England in 1773. He landed at Philadelphia in
Sept., 1774, as lieutenant of the Royal English
Fusileers ; and soon proceeded, by way of Boston,
to Canada, to join his regiment. In 1775 he was
taken prisoner by Montgomery at St. John's ;
but was afterwards exchanged, and appointed
captain. In the summer of 1777 he was ap
pointed aid to Gen. Grey and was present at the
engagements in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in
1777 and 1778. On the return of Gen. Grey, he
was appointed aid to Gen. Clinton. In 1780 he
was promoted to the rank of major, and made
adjutant-general of the British army.
After Arnold had intimated to the British in
1780 his intention of delivering up West Point to
them, Maj. Andre was selected as the person, to
whom the maturing of Arnold's treason and the
ANDRE.
arrangements for its execution should be commit
ted. A correspondence was for some time car
ried on betAvecn them under a mercantile disguise
and the feigned names of Gustavus and Ander
son ; and at length to facilitate their communica
tions the Vulture sloop-of-war moved up the North
river and took a station convenient for the pur
pose, but not so near as to excite suspicion. An
interview was agreed on, and in the night of Sep
tember 21, 1780, he was taken in a boat, which
was dispatched for the purpose, and carried to
the beach, without the posts of both armies, under
a pass for John Anderson. He met Gen. Arnold
at the house of a Mr. Smith. While the confer
ence was yet unfinished, daylight approached ;
and to avoid the danger of discovery it was pro
posed, that he should remain concealed till the
succeeding night. He is understood to have re
fused to be carried within the American posts, but
the promise made him by Arnold to respect this
objection was not observed. He was carried
I within them contrary to his wishes and against
| his knowledge. He continued with Arnold the
1 succeeding day, and when on the following night
he proposed to return to the Vulture, the boat
man refused to carry him, because she had dur
ing the day shifted her station, in consequence of
a gun having been moved to the shore and
brought to bear upon her. This embarrassing
circumstance reduced him to the necessity of en
deavoring to reach New York by land. Yielding
with reluctance to the urgent representations of
Arnold, he laid aside his regimentals, Avhich he
had hitherto worn under a surtout, and put on a
plain suit of clothes ; and receiving a pass from
the American general, authorizing him, under the
feigned name of John Anderson, to proceed on
the public service to the White Plains, or lower if
he thought proper, he set out on his return in the
evening of the 22d, accompanied by Joshua
Smith, and passed the night at Crompond. The
next morning he crossed the Hudson to King's
ferry on the east side. A little beyond the Cro-
ton, Smith, deeming him safe, bid him adieu. He
had passed all the guards and posts on the road
without suspicion, and was proceeding to New
York in perfect security, when, September 23d,
one of the three militia-men, who were employed
with others in scouting parties between the lines
of the two armies, springing suddenly from his
covert into the road, seized the reins of his bridle
and stopped his horse. Instead of producing his
pass, Andre, with a want of self-possession, which
can be attributed only to a kind Providence,
asked the man hastily where he belonged, and
being answered, " to below," replied immediately,
" and so do I." He then declared himself to be
a British officer, on urgent business, and begged
that he might not be detained. The other two
militia men coming up at this moment, he discov-
ANDRE.
ANDRE.
35
ered his mistake ; but it was too late to repair it.
He offered them his purse and a valuable watch,
to winch he added the most tempting promises
of ample reward and permanent provision from
the government, if they would permit him to
escape ; but his offers were rejected without hesi
tation.
The militia-men, whose names were John Paul-
ding, ] )avid Williams, and Isaac Van Wart, pro
ceeded to search him. They found concealed in
his boots exact returns, in Arnold's handwriting,
of the state of the forces, ordnance, and defences
at West Point and its dependencies, critical re
marks on the works, and an estimate of the men
ordinarily employed in them, with other interest
ing papers. Andre was carried before Lieut.-Col.
Jameson, the officer commanding the scouting
parties on the lines, and regardless of himself and
only anxious for the safety of Arnold, he still
maintained the character, which he had assumed,
and requested Jameson to inform his commanding
officer, that Anderson was taken. A letter was
accordingly sent to Arnold, and the traitor, thus
becoming acquainted with his danger, escaped.
The narrative of the bearer of this letter, Salomon
Allen, is given in the sketch of his life : it differs
in several respects from the account of the affair
in the Encyclopaedia Americana, and throws light
upon circumstances, which have been heretofore
obscure.
A board of general officers, of which Maj.
Gen. Greene was president, and the two foreign
generals, Lafayette and Steuben, were members,
was called to report a precise state of the case of
Andre, who had acknowledged himself Adjutant-
General of the British army, and to determine in
what character he was to be considered, and to
what punishment he was liable. He received
from the board every mark of indulgent atten
tion ; and from a sense of justice, as well as of
delicacy, he was informed on the first opening of
the examination, that he was at perfect liberty
not to answer any interrogatory, which might em
barrass his own feelings. But he disdained every
evasion, and frankly acknowledged every thing,
which was material to his condemnation. The
board, which met Sept. 29th, did not examine a
single witness, but, founding their report entirely
upon his own confession, reported that he came
within the description of a spy and ought to suf
fer death. The execution of this sentence was
ordered on the day succeeding that on which it
was rendered.
The greatest exertions were made by Sir Henry
Clinton, to whom Andre was particularly dear, to
rescue him from his fate. It was first represented,
that he came on shore under the sanction of a
flag; but Washington returned an answer to
Clinton, in which he stated, that Andre had him
self disclaimed the pretext. An interview was
next proposed between Lieut.-Gen. Robertson
and Gen. Greene ; but no facts, which had not
before been considered, Avere made known. When
every other exertion failed, a letter from Arnold,
filled with threats, was presented.
Andre was deeply affected by the mode of
dying, which the laws of war had decreed to per
sons in his situation. He wished to die as a sol
dier, and not as a criminal. To obtain a mitigation
of his sentence in this respect he addressed a let
ter to Gen. Washington, replete with all the feel
ings of a man of sentiment and honor. The
commander-in-chief consulted his officers on the
subject ; but as Andre unquestionably came under
the description of a spy, it was thought, that the
public good required his punishment to be in the
usual way. The decision, however, from tender
ness to Andre, was not divulged. He encoun
tered his fate, Oct. 2d, at Tappan, with a compo
sure and fortitude, which excited the admiration
and interested the feelings of all who were pres
ent. He exhibited some emotion, when he first
beheld the preparations at the fatal spot, and in
quired, " must I die in this manner ? " He soon
afterwards added, " it will be but a momentary
pang ; " and being asked, if he had any request
to make before he left the world, he answered,
" none but that you will witness to the world, that
I die like a brave man." While one weeps at the
ignominious death of a man so much esteemed
and beloved, it would have given some relief to
the pained mind, if he had died more like a
Christian and less like a soldier. The sympathy,
excited among the American officers by his fate,
was as universal, as it is unusual on such occa
sions ; and proclaims the merit of him, who suf
fered, and the humanity of those, who inflicted
the punishment. In 1821 the bones of Andre
were dug up and carried to his native land by
royal mandate. Major Andre wrote the Cow
Chase, in three cantos, 1781. This poem was
originally published in Rivington's Royal Gazette,
New York, in the morning of the day, on which
Andre was taken prisoner. The last stanza, in
tended to ridicule Gen. Wayne for his failure in
an attempt to collect cattle for the army, is this :
" And now I've closed my epic strain,
I tremble, as I show it,
Lest this same Warrior-Drover, Wayne,
Should ever catch the Poet '. "
He wrote also letters to Miss Seward, New
York, 1772. Miss Seward wrote a monody on
Andre, in which she predicted, that Washington
would die miserably for executing the spy. —
Annual Register for 1781, 39-46 ; Marshall, iv.
277-286; Gordon, m. 481-490; Stedman, n.
249-2,33 ; Ramsay, II. 196-201 ; Political May.
II. 171 ; Amer. fiememb. 1781, 1., p. 101 ; Smit/Vs
Narrative ; Thacher's Military Journal.
3G
ANDREWS.
ANDROS.
ANDREW, SAMUEL, the second rector of
Yale college, was the son of Samuel Andrew, of
Cambridge, Mass., born 1656, graduated 1675,
and ordained the minister of Milford, Conn.,
Nov. 18, 1685. Being appointed, after the death
of Mr. Pierson, temporary rector of the college in
1707, he officiated till 1719, occasionally repair
ing to the college at Saybrook and New Haven,
but residing at Milford. He died Jan. 24, 1738,
aged 82, leaving an excellent reputation. His
predecessors in the ministry were Prudden and
Newton ; Whittlesey succeeded him.
ANDREWS, ROBERT, professor of mathematics
in William and Mary college, Virginia, died in
Jan., 1804, at Williamsburg. In 1779 he was a
commissioner with Dr. Madison to settle the
boundary line with Pennsylvania, — Bryan, Ewing,
and Rittenhouse being the commissioners of Penn.
The talents of Mr. Andrews were actively em
ployed and regulated by reason and religion.
His wife and children were taught by him those
divine principles, which bear the afflicted above
the evils of life.
ANDREWS, JOHN, D. ])., provost of the
university of Penn., was born in Cecil county,
Md., April 4, 1746, and educated at Philadelphia.
After receiving Episcopal ordination in London
Feb., 1767, he was three years a missionary at
Lewiston, Md., and then a missionary at York-
town, and a rector in Queen Ann's county, Md.
Not partaking of the patriotic spirit of the times,
he was induced to quit Maryland for many years.
In 1785 he was placed at the head of the Episco
pal academy in Philadelphia, and in 1789 ap
pointed professor of moral philosophy in the
college. In 1810 he succeeded Dr. M'Dowell as
provost. He died March 29, 1813, aged 67. As
a scholar he was very distinguished. He published
a sermon on the parable of the unjust steward,
1789; and elements of logic.
ANDREWS, LORING, a distinguished editor,
died at Charleston Oct. 19, 1805. He was the
brother of Rev. John Andrews, of Newburyport.
He first published, in Boston, the Herald of
Freedom ; then, at Stockbridge, the Western Star ;
and in 1803 he established the Charleston Courier,
a political paper of high reputation.
ANDREWS, JOIIN, D. D., died in Newbury
port in Aug., 1845, aged 81. A graduate of 1786,
he was settled as a colleague with Mr. Cary in
1788. He published a thanksgiving sermon,
1795; at a dedication, 1801 ; on the death of T.
Cary, 1808; before a humane society, 1812.
ANDREWS, PARNELLY, wife of Dr. S. L.
Andrews, missionary at the Sandwich Islands,
died at Kailua Sept. 29, 1846, aged 39. Her
name was Pierce, of Woodbury, Conn. She em
barked in 1836.
ANDREWS, JOANNA, Mrs., died at Gloucester
Jan. 20, 1847, aged 102.
ANDREWS, EBENEZER T., an extensive printer,
died in Boston Oct. 9, 1851, aged 84. He was
of the firm of Thomas & Andrews.
ANDREWS, ASA, the survivor of all the pre
ceding graduates of Harvard, died at Ipswich
Jan. 13, 1856, aged 93. He was born in Boylston ;
his mother, whose name was Bradstreet, was a
descendant of Gov. B. He graduated in 1783,
and studied law with C. Strong, Northampton.
From 1796 to 1829 he was collector of the port
of Ipswich. He was a man of ability, highly
respected.
ANDROS, EDMUND, governor of New England,
had some command in New York in 1672, and in
1674 was appointed governor of that province.
He continued in this office till 1682, exhibiting in
this government but little of that tyrannical dis
position, which he afterwards displayed. He
arrived at Boston Dec. 20, 1686, with a commis
sion from King James for the government of
New England. He made high professions of
regard to the public good, directed the judges to
administer justice according to the custom of the
place, ordered the established rules with respect
to rates and taxes to be observed, and declared,
that all the colony laws, not inconsistent with his
commission, should remain in full force. By
these professions he calmed the apprehensions,
which had agitated the minds of many; but it
was not long before the monster stood forth in
his proper shape.
His administration was most oppressive and
tyrannical. The press was restrained, exorbitant
taxes were levied, and the Congregational minis
ters were threatened to be deprived of their sup
port for nonconformity. Sir Edmund, knowing
that his royal master was making great progress
towards despotism in England, was very
willing to keep equal pace in his less important
government. It was pretended, that all titles to
land were destroyed; and the farmers were
obliged to take new patents, for which they paid
large fees. He prohibited marriage, unless the
parties entered into bonds with sureties to be
forfeited in case there should afterwards appear
to have been any lawful impediment. There was
at this time but one Episcopal clergyman in the
country ; but Andros wrote to the bishop of Lon
don, intimating, for the encouragement of those
who might be persuaded to come to this country,
that in future no marriage should be deemed
lawful, unless celebrated by ministers of the
church of England. With four or five of his
council he laid what taxes he thought proper.
The fees of office were raised to a most exorbitant
height. In Oct., 1687, he went with troops to
Hartford, and demanded the surrender of the
charter of Connecticut, which was placed in the
evening upon the table of the Assembly, but
instantly the lights were extinguished, and the
ANDROS.
ANDRUS.
37
charter disappeared, having been carried off by
Capt. Wadsworth and secreted in a hollow oak,
near the house of Samuel "\Vyllys.
In the spring of 1688 Andros proceeded in the
Rose frigate to Penobscot and plundered the
house and fort of Castine, and thus by his base
rapacity excited an Indian war. In November he
marched against the eastern Indians at the head
of seven or eight hundred men ; but not an
Indian was seen. They had retired to the woods
for hunting. He built two forts, one at Sheepscot,
the other at Pegypscot Falls or Brunswick, and
left garrisons in them. If the old name of
Amarascoggin, on which river he built Pegypscot
Fort, received at this time, in honor of him, the
name of Androscoggin, he was not worthy of
such remembrance. The ancient name is to be
preferred.
At length the capricious and arbitrary proceed
ings of Andros roused the determined spirit of
the people.
Having sought in the wilds of America the
secure enjoyment of that civil and religious
liberty, of which they had been unjustly deprived
in England, they were not disposed to see their
dearest rights wrested from them without a
struggle to retain them. Animated with the love
of liberty, they v/ere also resolute and courageous
in its defence. They had for several years
suffered the impositions of a tyrannical adminis
tration, and the dissatisfaction and indignation,
which had been gathering during this period,
were blown into a flame by the report of an
intended massacre by the governor's guards. On
the morning of April 18, 1689, the inhabitants of
Boston took up arms, the people poured in from
the country, and the governor, with such of the
council as had been most active, and other
obnoxious persons, about fifty in number, were
seized and confined. The old magistrates were
restored, and the next month the joyful news of
the Revolution in England reached this country,
and quieted all apprehension of the consequences
of what had been done. After having been kept
at the castle till February following, Andros was
sent to England for trial. The General Court
about the same time despatched a committee of
several gentlemen to substantiate the charges
against him.
The government was reduced to a most per
plexing dilemma. If they condemned Andros'
administration, the sentence might be drawn into
a precedent, and they might seem to encourage
insurrection and rebellion in future periods, when
circumstances did not render so desperate an ex
pedient necessary. On the other hand, if they
should approve of the administration of Andros
and censure the proceedings of the colonists, it
would imply a reprobation of the very measure,
which had been pursued in bringing about the
Revolution in England. It was therefore deemed
prudent to dismiss the business without coming to
a final decision. The people were accordingly
left to the full enjoyment of their freedom ; and
Andros, in public estimation guilty, escaped with
out censure.
In 1692 he was appointed the governor of
Virginia, in which office his conduct was for the
most part prudent and unimpeached. He was
succeeded by Nicholson in 1698. He died in
London Feb. 24, 1714, at a very advanced age.
His narrative of his proceedings in New England
was published in 1691, and republished in 1773.
— HutcUnson, Douglass, II. 247, 272, 369;
Holmes, I. 421, 425; Bdknap, I. 244; Eliot;
Beverly.
ANDROS, THOMAS, minister of Berkley, was
born in Norwich, Conn., May 1, 1759, the son of
a merchant. His widowed mother removed to
Plainfield, where her friends resided. At the age
of sixteen he joined the army as a soldier at
Cambridge in 1775. Afterwards he was in the
battles of Long Island and White Plains, and
served elsewhere. In 1781 he enlisted in a private
armed vessel at New London ; but, captured in a
prize vessel, he was thrown into prison in the old
Jersey prison-ship at New York, in which, it is
said, eleven thousand died. In a few months he,
by a remarkable Providence, escaped ; and his
lost health was restored. Having studied theology
with Dr. Benedict of Plainfield, he was ordained
at Berkley March 19, 1788, on a salary of 80
pounds. He was dismissed at his request June
15, 1834, having labored with his people forty-
six years. His last sermon he preached October
5, 1845, walking two miles to church, and speaking
with animation and force. He died of apo
plexy Dec. 30, 1845, aged 86. His first wife
Avas Abigail Cutter, of Killingly ; his second,
Sophia Sanford, of Berkley, in 1799. His son,
R. S. S. Andros, wrote an account of him for
Emery's Ministry of Taunton.
He published a sermon on the death of J.
Crane, 1795; of Mrs. Andros, 1798; at thanks
giving, 1808 and 1812; on restraining prayer;
Bible news, &c., against N. "Worcester's book,
1813; on human creeds, 1814; at the ordination
of B. Whittcmore, 1815; against philosophical
mixtures, 1819; an essay against a positive
efficiency in the production of sin, 1820 ; six dis
courses ; on the death of S. Tobey, 1823; a ser
mon vindicating the temperance society, 1830; a
narrative of his imprisonment and escape from
the Jersey prison-ship.
ANDRUS, JOSEHI R., agent of the colonization
society, was graduated at Middlebury college in
1812, and after studying theology at New Haven
and Andover, and also under Bishop Gri.swold at
Bristol, R. L, received Episcopal ordination. It
had been for years his purpose to devote himself
38
ANGE.
to promote the welfare of the degraded and
oppressed race of Africans. Being appointed the
agent of the colonization society, he sailed early
in 1821, and proceeded, with his associate,
Ephraim Bacon, in April from Sierra Leone to
the Bassa country to negotiate with King Ben for
a place of settlement. It was well for the pro
posed colony, that the attempt was unsuccessful,
for a more healthful and eligible territory was
afterwards purchased by Dr. Apes at Montserado.
Mr. Andrus died at Sierra Leone, and \vas
buried July 29, 1821. He was the friend of
Carlos Wilcox, and by him honored in his lines,
"The Group of Stars"."— Panoplist, XVIII. ; 25,
400 ; Remains of Wilcox, 90.
ANGE, FRANCIS, a planter of Pennsylvania,
died in 1767, aged 134 years. He remembered
the death of Charles I. ; at the age of 130 was in
good health ; and at the time of his death his
memory was strong, his faculties perfect. He
had lived on simple food. His residence was
between Broad creek and the head of Wicomoco
river. — Mem. of Historical Society, Philad., I.
320.
ANGIER, SAMUEL, minister of Rehoboth, died
in 1719, aged about 66. He was a graduate of
1673, in a class of four, of whom one was John
"Wise. He was ordained in May, 1679, and dis
missed in 1693 ; after which he was the pastor of
Watertown, yet living at Cambridge, where his
house was burnt, with the records of Rehoboth.
His mother was the daughter of the famous Win.
Ames : his wife was the only child of President
Oakes, and he had by her fifteen children.
AXGLIX, HENRY, a soldier of the Revolution
ary army in North Carolina, died at Athens in
Georgia in 1853, aged 105.
ANTES, JOHN, a Moravian missionary, was
born March 4, 1740, and sent from America to
Herrnhut in Germany in 1764. In 1769 he pro
ceeded to Cairo on a proposed mission to Abys
sinia ; but meeting Mr. Bruce, he was induced to
abandon the undertaking. He returned to Ger
many in 1781 ; and in 1808 risked England, and
died at Bristol Dec. 17, 1811. He published a
reply to Lord Valencia, vindicating Bruce's ve
racity ; observations on the manners of the Egyp
tians ; and wrote a memoir of his own life.
ANTHONY, SUSANNA, an eminently pious
woman of Rhode Island, was born in 1726, and
died at Newport June 23, 1791, aged 64 years.
Her parents were Quakers. Dr. Hopkins pub
lished the memoirs of her life, consisting chiefly
of extracts from her writings, of which there was
a second edition in 1810. She devoted herself
chiefly to prayer.
AP'PLETON, NATHANIEL, D. D., minister of
Cambridge, was born at Ipswich Dec. 9, 1693.
His father was John Appleton, one of the king's
council and for twenty years judge of probate
APPLETON.
! in the county of Essex, and his mother was
the eldest daughter of President Rogers. He
• was graduated at Harvard college in 1712.
After completing his education, an opportunity
! presented of entering into commercial business
| on very advantageous terms with an uncle in
Boston, who was an opulent merchant ; but
I he resolved to forego every worldly advantage,
| that he might promote the interest of the
i Redeemer's kingdom. Soon after he began to
! preach, he was invited to succeed Mr. Brattle in
the ministry at Cambridge, and was ordained
Oct. 9, 1717. On this occasion Dr. Increase
Mather preached the sermon and gave the charge,
and Dr. Cotton Mather gave the right hand of
fellowship. He was the same year elected a
fellow of Harvard college, which office he sus
tained above sixty years, faithfully consulting and
essentially promoting the interests of the insti
tution. In 1771 the university conferred on him
the degree of doctor of divinity, an honor, which
had been conferred upon but one person, In
crease Mather, about eighty years before. De
grees have since become more frequent and less
honorable. The usefulness of Dr. Appleton was
diminished for a few of his last years through the
infirmities of age, but did not entirely cease ex
cept with his life. He received Mr. Hilliard as
his colleague in 1783. After a ministry of more
than sixty-six years, he died Feb. 9, 1784, in the
91st year of his age. This country can furnish
few instances of more useful talents, and more
exemplary piety, exhibited for so long a time and
with such great success. During his ministry two
thousand one hundred and thirty-eight persons
were baptized, and seven hundred and eighty-four
admitted members of the church.
Dr. Appleton was as venerable for his piety as
for his years. His whole character was patri
archal. In his dress, in his manners, in his con-
| versation, in his ministry he resembled the Pu
ritan ministers, who first settled New England.
! He lived from the close of one century to near
j the close of another, and he brought down with
j him the habits of former times. His natural
temper was cheerful, but his habitual deportment
was grave. Early consecrated to God, and hav
ing a fixed predilection for the ministry, by the
union of good sense with deep seriousness, of
enlightened zeal with consummate prudence, he
was happily fitted for the pastoral office.
He preached with great plainness and with
primitive simplicity. In order to accommodate
his discourses to the meanest capacity, he fre
quently borrowed similitudes from familiar, some
times from vulgar objects ; but his application of
them was so pertinent and his utterance so sol
emn, as to suppress levity and silence criticism.
Deeply sensible of the fallen state of man, he ad
mired the wisdom, holiness, and mercy, which are
APPLETOX.
APPLETOX.
39
displayed in the plan of redemption through a
glorious Saviour. From the abundance of his
heart, filled with the love of God, he spake with
such fervor, as was fitted to inspire his hearers
with pious sentiments and affections.
He possessed the learning of his time. The
scriptures he read in the originals. His exposi
tion, preached in course on the Sabbath, com- 1
prchended the whole Xew Testament, the pro
phecy of Isaiah, and some of the other prophets, j
It was chiefly designed to promote practical
piety ; but on the prophetical parts he discovered
a continued attention, extent of reading, and a
depth of research, which come to the share of j
but very few. In his preaching he carefully
availed himself of special occurrences, and his i
discourses on such occasions were peculiarly sol- j
emn and impressive. With the fidelity and j
plainness of a Christian minister he administered
reproofs and admonitions, and maintained with
parental tenderness and pastoral authority the
discipline of the church. By his desire a com
mittee was appointed, and "continued for many
years, for inspecting the manners of professing
Christians. So great was the ascendency, which
he gained over his people by his discretion and j
moderation, by his condescension and benevo- j
lence, by his fidelity and piety, that they regarded
his counsels as oracular.
In controversial and difficult cases he was often
applied to for advice at ecclesiastical councils.
Impartial yet pacific, firm yet conciliatory, he was
peculiarly qualified for a counsellor, and in that
character he materially contributed to the unity,
flic peace, an-1 order of the churches. With the
wisdom of the serpent he happily united the
innocence of the dove. In his religious princi
ples he was a Calvinist, as were all his predeces
sors in the ministry, Hooker, Stone, Shqjard,
Mitchel, Oakes, Gookin, and Brattle. But towards
those of different principles he was candid and
catholic.
His own example enforced the duties, which he
enjoined upon others. He was humble, meek,
and benevolent. He was ready at all times to
relieve the distressed, and through life he de
voted a tenth part of lu's whole income to pious
and charitable uses. He was ever a firm friend
to the civil and religious liberties of mankind,
and was happy in living to see the establishment
of peace and independence in his native land,
lie deserves honorable remembrance for his ex
ertions to send the gospel to the Indians. Under
his many heavy trials he was submissive and pa
tient. When his infirmities had in a great
measure terminated his usefulness, he expressed
his desire to depart and be with Christ. He at
length calmly resigned his spirit into the hands
of its Redeemer. His son, Xathaniel, a mer
chant in Boston, who died in 1798, wrote, with
James Swan and others, against the slave trade
and slavery from 1766 to 1770.
His publications are the following : the wisdom
of God in the redemption of man, 1728 ; a ser
mon at the artillery election, 1733 ; on evan
gelical repentance, 1741 ; discourses on llomans
VIII. 14, 1743; funeral sermons on the death of
President Leverett, 1724; of Francis Foxcroft,
1728; of President Wadsworth, 1737; of Han
cock, 1752; of Spencer Phips, 1757; of Henry
Flynt, 1760; of Dr. Wigglesworth, 1765; of
President Holyoke, 1769; sermons at the or
dination of Josiah Cotton, 1728 ; of John Ser
geant, 1735 ; of John Sparhawk, 1736 ; of
Matthew Bridge, 1746; of O. Peabody, Jr.,
1750 ; of Stephen Badger, 1753 ; a sermon at the
general election, 1742; at the convention, 1743;
two discourses on a fast, 1 748 ; on the difference
between a legal and evangelical righteousness,
1749; Dudleian lecture, 1758; at the Boston lec
ture, 1763; against profane swearing, 1765; a
thanksgiving sermon for the conquest of Can
ada, 1760; for the repeal of the stamp act, 1766;
two discourses on a fast, 1770. — Holmes' History
of Cambridge ; Collections of Historical Society,
vii. 37,9-63; x. 158; American Herald, Feb.
23, 1784.
APPLETOX, JESSE, D. D., the second president
of Bowdoin college, was born at Xew Ipswich
Xov. 17, 1772. He descended from John Apple-
ton of Great Waldingfield, Suffolk, England, who
died in 1436. Samuel, a descendant of John,
came to this country in 1635, and settled at
Ipswich, Mass. Francis, his father, a man of
piety and vigorous intellect, died in 1816, aged 83.
President Appleton was graduated at Dart
mouth college in 1792. It was during his resi
dence at that seminary, that he experienced deep
religious impressions ; yet of any precise period,
when his heart was regenerated by the Spirit of
God, he was not accustomed to speak. The only
safe evidence of piety, he believed, was " the
perception in himself of those qualities, which the
Gospel requires." Having spent two years in the
instruction of youth at Dover and Aniherst, he
studied theology under Dr. Lathrop of West
Springfield. In Feb., 1797, he was ordained as
the pastor of a church at Hampton. His
religious sentiments at this period were Arminian.
Much of his time during his ten years' residence
in that town was devoted to systematic, earnest
study, in consequence of which liis sentiments
assumed a new form. By his faithful, affectionate
services he was very much endeared to his people.
At his suggestion the Piscataqua Evangelical
Magazine was published, to which he contributed
valuable essays, with the signature of Lc'^hton.
Such was his public estimation, that in 1803 he
was one of the two principal candidates for the
professorsliip of theology at Harvard college ; but
40
APPLETOX.
Dr. Ware was elected. In 1807 he was chosen
president of Bowdoin college, into which office
he was inducted Dec. 23. After the toils of ten
years in this station, his health hecame much im
paired in consequence of a severe cold, in October,
1817. In May, 1819, his illness became more
alarming, his complaints being a cough, hoarse
ness, and debility. A journey proved of no
essential benefit. A profuse hemorrhage in
October extinguished all hope of recovery. As
the day of his dissolution approached, he re
marked, " Of this I am sure, that salvation is all
of grace. I would make no mention of any
thing, which I have ever thought, or said, or done ;
but only of this, that God so loved the world, as
to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever be-
licvefh on Him should not perish, but have ever
lasting life. The atonement is the only ground
of hope." In health he was sometimes anxious,
in a high degree, in regard to the college ; but in
his sickness he said in cheerful confidence, " God
has taken care of the college, and God will take
care of it." Among his last expressions were
heard the words, " Glory to God in the highest :
the whole earth shall be filled with his glory."
lie died Xov. 12, 1,819, at the age of 47, having
been president nearly twelve years. A discourse
was published, which was delivered at his funeral
by Benjamin Tappan of Augusta, describing the
excellences of his character and his peculiar
qualifications for the station, which he occupied.
His widow, Elizabeth, died in Boston in 1844.
He published a dedication sermon at Hampton,
1797 ; sermons at the ordination of Asa Rand
of Gorham, 1809, and Jonathan Cogswell of Saco,
and Reuben Xason of Freeport, 1810; of Ben
jamin Tappan of Augusta, 1811; discourse on
the death of Frederic Southgate, 1813 ; Massa
chusetts election sermon, 1814 ; a sermon on the
perpetuity of the Sabbath, 1814 ; thanksgiving
sermon, 1815 ; sermon at the ordination of Enos
Merrill, of Freeport; sermon before the Bath
society for the suppression of public vices ; address
before the Mass, society for the suppression of in
temperance, 1816 ; sermon before the American
commissioners for foreign missions, 1817; sermon
at the formation of the Maine education society,
1818 ; also a sermon on the death of Mrs. Buck-
minster ; a sermon before the Portsmouth female
asylum ; and a sermon relating to Dr. Emmons on
unity.
In 1820 a volume of his addresses was pub
lished, containing his inaugural address and
eleven annual addresses, with a sketch of his
character by Dr. Xichols of Portland. In 1822
his lectures and occasional sermons were published
in one volume, witli a memoir of his life by
Benjamin Tappan of Augusta. The subjects of
those lectures, twenty-seven in number, are the ne
cessity of revelation, human depravity, the atone-
APTIIORP.
ment, regeneration, the eternity of future punish
ment, the resurrection of the body, and the
demoniacs of the Xew Testament.
The sermons are on the immortality of the soul,
the influence of religion on the condition of
man, the evils of war and the probability of
universal peace, the truth of Christianity from its
moral effects, conscience, and consequences of
neglecting the great salvation. His works, with
a memoir, were published in two vols., 1837.
APPLETOX, SAMUEL, a distinguished mer
chant, died July 12, 1853, aged 87. He was born
in Xew Ipswich, X. H., June 22, 1766, one of a
family of twelve brothers and sisters. He early
became a country merchant; in 1794 he1 es
tablished himself in business in Boston, in which
his career was one of great honor, success, and
usefulness. His brother, Xathan, became his
partner. He married in 1819 Mrs. Mary Gore.
As early as 1823 he determined to spend
annually the amount of his income. Having no
children, much of his beneficence had respect to
the children of his brothers and sisters ; and
much of his charity went to the poor. He was
accustomed to give away 25,000 dollars a year.
To all great objects of charity he Avas a large con
tributor. He deemed the day lost, in which he
had not done some good. To Dartmouth college
he gave 10,000 dollars. A print of him is in the
Historical Register. His life by E. Peabody may
be found in the lives of American merchants.
APPLETOX, LYDIA, sister of X. Dane, died
in Beverly Aug. 23, 1845, aged 103 years and 8
months. She was married at thirty and was a
widow at ninety.
APTHORP, EAST, an Episcopal minister, was
the son of Charles Apthorp, a merchant of
Boston, Avho died in 1758, aged 61. He was born
in 1733, and studied at Jesus' college, Cambridge,
England. Having taken orders, he was appointed
in 1761 by the society for propagating the Gospel
in foreign parts a missionary at Cambridge, in
which place he continued four or five years. He
engaged in a warm controversy with Dr. Mayhcw
concerning the design and conduct of the society,
of which he was a missionary. The political
feelings of the people were mingled with their
religious attachments ; the cause, which Mr. Ap
thorp espoused, was unpopular, and he returned
to England. He was made vicar of Croydon in
1765, and in 1778 rector of Bow church, London,
to which he was presented by his friend and
fellow collegian, bishop Porteus. In 1790, having
lost his sight, he exchanged these livings for the
prebend of Finsbury, and having an adequate
income, he retired to spend the evening of his
days among the scenes and friends of his youth,
at the university, in a house provided for him by
his patron, Bishop Watson. He died at Cam
bridge, England, April 16, 1816, aged 83 years.
APTHORP.
His wife was the daughter of Foster Hutchinson,
a brother of the governor. His only son was a
clergyman ; of three daughters, one was married
to Dr. Cary and one to Dr. Butler, both heads of
colleges ; the third married a son of Dr. Palcy.
Dr. Thomas Bulfinch of Boston married one of
his sisters, and Robert Bayard of New York
another. He was eminent as a writer. He
published a sermon at the opening of the church
at Cambridge, 17G1; on the peace, 1763; con
siderations respecting the society for the propaga
tion, etc., 1763 ; on the death of Ann Wheelwright,
1764 ; review of Mayhew's remarks on the answer
to his observations, etc., 1765; discourses on
prophecy, at the Warburton lecture, Lincoln's
Inn chapel, 2 vols; and an answer to Gibbon's
statement of the causes of the spread of Christ
ianity. — Jcnnison, MS. ; Holmes, n. 120,481.
APTHORP, GEORGE H., missionary to Ceylon,
died June 8, 1844, aged 46. Born in Quincy, he
graduated at Yale in 1829, and studied theology
at Princeton. He sailed from Boston in 1833.
He lived chiefly at Varany. He said in his sick
ness, " My faith rests firmly on the rock."
Among his last words were, " Precious Saviour,
come, — come quickly." His last prayers, both in
English and Tamul, for all descriptions of men,
were most earnest. His wife, Mary Robertson,
of Albemarle county, Va., died in peace Sept. 3,
1849, aged 41, and was buried by the side of her
husband.
ARBUCKLE, MATTHEW, brigadier-general,
died at Fort Smith, Ark., June 11, 1851, aged 75.
He commanded at New Orleans, Fort Gibson, and
Fort Smith. Thoroughly acquainted with the
Indians, he always preserved their confidence.
ARCH, JOHN, a Cherokee Indian and an
interpreter, died at Brainerd June 8, 1825, aged
27. When taken sick, he was engaged in trans
lating John's Gospel into Cherokee, using the
ingenious alphabet invented by Mr. Guess. He
had been a Christian convert several years ; and
he died in peace, saying, " God is good, and will
do right!" He was buried by the side of Dr.
Worcester.
ARCHDALE, JOHN, governor of Carolina, was
appointed to this office by the proprietors, after
Lord Ashley had declined accepting it. He was
a Quaker and a proprietor, and arrived in the
summer of 1695. The settlers received him with
universal joy. The colony had been in much con
fusion, but order was now restored. The As
sembly was called, and the governor by the
discreet use of his extensive powers settled almost
every public concern to the satisfaction of the
people. The price of lands and the form of con
veyances were settled by law. Magistrates were
appointed for hearing all causes, and determining
all differences between the settlers and the
Indians. Public roads were ordered to be made
G
ARGALL.
41
and water passages cut. The planting of rice,
which has since become the great source of the
opulence of Carolina, was introduced. A captain
of a vessel from Madagascar on his way to Great
Britain anchored off' Sullivan's Island and made a
present to the governor of a bag of seed rice,
which he had brought from the east. This rice
the governor divided among some of his friends,
who agreed to make an experiment. The success
equalled their expectation, and from this small
beginning arose the staple commodity of Carolina.
He continued one year in his government.
After his return to London, he published a work
entitled, a new description of that fertile and
pleasant province of Carolina, with a brief ac
count of its discovery, settling, and the govern
ment thereof to this time, with several remark
able passages during my time, 1707. — Holmes;
Ilewatt, I. 119, 129-131 ; Ramsay, I. 47-50.
ARCHER, STEVENSON, chief judge of the court
of appeals in Maryland, died Jan. 25, 1848.
ARGALL, SAMUEL, deputy governor of Vir
ginia, came to that colony in 1609 to trade and
to fish for sturgeon. The trade v\-as in violation
of the laws; but as the wine and provisions,
which he brought, were much wanted, his con
duct was connived at, and he continued to make
voyages for Ins OAvn advantage and in the service
of the colony. In 1612 he carried off Pocahon-
tas to James Town. In 1613 he arrived at the
Island, now called Mount Desert, in Maine, for
the purpose of fishing, and having discovered a
settlement of the French, which was made two
years before, he immediately attacked it, and
took most of the settlers prisoners. Gilbert de
Thet, a Jesuit father, was killed in the engage
ment. This was the commencement of hostili
ties between the French and English colonists in
America. Capt. Argall soon afterwards sailed
from Virginia to Acadie and destroyed the French
settlements of St. Croix and Port Royal. The
pretext for this hostile expedition in time of
peace was the encroachment of -the French on
the rights of the English, which were founded on
the prior discovery of the Cabots. Argall on his
return subdued the Dutch settlement at Hudson's
river. In 1614 he went to England, and returned
in 1617 as deputy governor. On his arrival he
found the public buildings at James Town fallen
to decay, the market place and streets planted
with tobacco, and the people of the colony dis
persed in places, which they thought best adapted
for cultivating that pernicious weed. To restore
prosperity to the colony Capt. Argall introduced
some severe regulations. He prohibited all trade
or familiarity with the Indians. Teaching them
the use of arms Was a crime to be punished by
death. He ordered, that all goods should be
sold at an advance of twenty-five per cent., and
fixed the price of tobacco at three shillings per
42
ARMISTEAD.
pound. None could sell or buy at a different
price under the penalty of three years' imprison
ment. No man was permitted to fire a gun, be
fore a new supply of ammunition, except in self-
defence, on pain of a year's slavery. Absence
from church on Sundays or holidays was punished
by confinement for the night, and one week's
slavery to the colony, and on a repetition of the
offence the punishment was increased.
The rigorous execution of these laws rendered
him odious in the colony, and the report of his
tyranny and his depredations upon the revenues
of the company reaching England, it was deter
mined to recall him. Lord Delaware was di
rected to send him home to answer the charges
brought against him ; but as his lordship did not
reach Virginia, being summoned away from life
•while on his passage, the letter to him fell into
the hands of Argall. Perceiving from it that
the fine harvest, which now occupied him, would
be soon ended, he redoubled his industry. He
multiplied his acts of injustice, and before the
arrival of a new governor in 1619 set sail in a
vessel, loaded with his effects. He was the
partner in trade of the Earl of Warwick, and by
this connection was enabled to defraud the com
pany of the restitution, which they had a right to
expect. In 1620 he commanded a ship of war
in an expedition against the Algerines ; in 1623
he was knighted by King James ; in 1625 he
was engaged in the expedition against the Span
ish under Cecil.
His character, like that of most, who were con
cerned in the government of Virginia, is differ
ently drawn ; by some he is represented as a
good mariner, a man of public spirit, active, in
dustrious, careful to provide for the people, and
to keep them constantly employed ; and by others
he is described as negligent of the public busi
ness, selfish, rapacious, passionate, arbitrary, and
cruel, pushing his unrighteous gains in every way
of extortion and oppression. He was, without
question, a man of talents and art, for he so
foiled and perplexed the company, that they were
never able to bring him to any account or pun
ishment. An account of his voyage from James
Town, beginning June 19, 1610, in which, missing
Bermuda, he " put over towards Sagadahoc and
Cape Cod," and his letter respecting his voyage
to Virginia in 1613, are preserved in Purchas. —
Belknap's Biography, II. 51-63; Holmes, 144,
155 ; I. Smith : Stith ; Marshall, I. 56, 107 ;
Beverly.
AllMISTEAD, Gen. W. K., died at Upper-
ville, Va., Oct. 13, 1845, aged about 60. He
was in the army forty years, of correct moral
deportment : for many years he was chief of the
corps of engineers. He commanded in 1840 in
the war against the Florida Indians.
ARMSTRONG, WILLIAM J., D. D., secretary
ARMSTRONG.
of the American Board of Missions, died in the
wreck of the steamer Atlantic Nov. 27, 1846,
aged 50. He was born in 1796 at Mendham,
N. J., where his father, Dr. A. Armstrong, was
the minister. He graduated at Princeton in
1816. When he first began to preach, he sought
an untried field of labor at Charlottesville, in
central Virginia, where there was no church, but
where he gathered one. In 1821 he returned to
New Jersey, and became for three years the
pastor of the church in Trenton. He then was
for ten years pastor of a church in Richmond,
Va., as the successor of Dr. Rice; and here he
faithfully toiled with remarkable success. In
1834 he was chosen a secretary of the American
Board of Missions as successor of Dr. Wisncr,
and removed to Boston ; but in 1838 it was
thought best, that he should reside in New York,
retaining his connection with the Board. Almost
every Sabbath he preached, far and wide, on the
claims of the heathen.
He made his monthly visit to Boston on
Monday Nov. 23, 1846, to attend the meeting of
the Prudential Committee of the Board. A
storm set in on Wednesday, when he proposed
to return to New York : in vain did his associates
advise him not to venture upon the water in such
a tempest ; but he was desirous to reach home,
as the next day was thanksgiving. At five o'clock
he left Boston by railroad for Norwich, and pro
ceeded from Allyn's Point in the steamer Atlantic
to New London ; but when about nine miles out
of the harbor the steam-pipe burst, leaving the
vessel to the north-west wind. The anchors
dragged, and during the whole day and night
of Thursday the vessel was at the mercy of the
storm. As a minister of Christ Dr. A. was busily
employed in teaching, in exhortation, and prayer,
that he might aid others in preparing to die.
About fifty met in the cabin in the afternoon to
read the Bible and to pray. He was calm and
resigned. After four o'clock in the morning of
Friday the 27th the vessel went to pieces, as it
struck the reef, and he and many others died.
His body was recovered, and his funeral was at
tended at New York. — N. Y. Observer, Dec. 5.
ARMSTRONG, ROBERT, general, died at Wash
ington in Feb., 1854, aged about 65. Born in
East Tennessee, he was a general in the Florida
war of 1836; afterwards consul at Liverpool.
Gen. Jackson bequeathed to him his sword.
ARMSTRONG, JOHN, general, died at Red
Hook, N. Y., April 1, 1855, aged 84. He served
as an officer with much credit during the Revolu
tionary war, at the close of which he published
the celebrated Newburgh Letters, written with
great vigor and eloquence. The prudence of
AVashington gave triumph to milder counsels.
After the war he was adjutant-general of Penn
sylvania : he conducted the vigorous movement
ARMSTRONG.
ARNOLD.
43
against the settlers at Wyoming. From New
York he was sent to the Senate of the United
States : he was also minister in France, after
Chancellor Livingston. Mr. Madison placed him
at the head of the war department. After the
capture of Washington by the British in 1814 he
was dismissed from office and afterwards lived in
retirement. He published a brief history of the
war with England.
ARMSTRONG, SAMUEL T., died in Boston
March 26, 1850, aged 66. He was a bookseller,
in which profession he made a fortune ; mayor
of the city ; and lieutenant-governor. Among
the books he published was a stereotype edition
of Scott's family Bible, which was widely circu
lated. He was a member of the Prudential
Committee of the American Board. It is said,
that it was his purpose, — as he had a fortune of
100 or 150,000 dollars and no children, — to
leave a liberal charitable bequest; but he died
suddenly in his chair. His wife, a descendant
of Edward Johnson, survived him.
ARMSTRONG, JOHN, general, resided in
Pennsylvania and was distinguished in the Indian
wars. In 1 7 76, being appointed brigadier-general,
he assisted in the defence of Fort Moultrie and
in the battle of Germantown. He left the army
in 1777 through dissatisfaction as to rank, and
was afterwards .a member of Congress. He died
at Carlisle March 9, 1795. He was a professor
of religion. — Lempriere.
ARNOLD, BENEDICT, governor of Rhode
Island, succeeded Roger Williams in that office
in 1657 and continued till 1660 ; he was also
governor from 1662 to 1666, from 1669 to 1672,
and from 1677 to 1678, — in which last year
he died. lie had lived in Providence as early
as 1639. Winthrop speaks of him, " as a great
friend of Massachusetts, especially in negotiations
with the Indians." — In 1657 he and Coddington
purchased of the Indian sachems the island of
Quononoquot, afterwards called James Town. —
Massachusetts Historical Collections, \. 217;
Savage's V/inthrop ; Farmer.
ARNOLD, BENEDICT, a major-general in the
American army, and infamous for deserting the
cause of his country, died in England June 14,
1801. He was bred an apothecary with a Dr.
Lathrop, who was so pleased with him, as to give
him 500 pounds sterling. From 1763 to 1767
he combined the business of a druggist with that
of a bookseller, at New Haven, Conn. Being
captain of a volunteer company, after hearing of
the battle of Lexington he immediately marched
with his company 1'or the American head-quar
ters, and reached Cambridge April 29, 1775. He
waited on the Massachusetts committee of safety
and informed them of the defenceless state of
Ticondcroga. The committee appointed him a
colonel, and commissioned him to raise four hun
dred men, and to take that fortress. He pro
ceeded directly to Vermont, and when he arrived
at Castleton was attended by one servant only.
Here he joined Col. Allen, and on May 10th the
fortress was taken.
In the fall of 1775 he was sent by the com-
mander-in-chief to penetrate through the wilder
ness of the District of Maine into Canada. He
commenced his march Sept. 16, with about one
thousand men, consisting of New England in
fantry, some volunteers, a company of artillerv,
and three companies of riflemen. One division,
that of Col. Enos, was obliged to return from
Dead river from the want of provisions ; had it
proceeded, the whole army might have perished.
The greatest hardships were endured and the
most appalling difficulties surmounted in this ex
pedition, of which Ma j. Mcigs kept a journal, and
Mr. Henry also published an account. The army
was in the wilderness, between Fort W estern at
Augusta and the first settlements on the Chaudiere
in Canada, about five weeks. In the want of
provisions Capt. Dearborn's dog was killed, and
eaten, even the feet and skin, with good appe
tite. As the army arrived at the first settle
ments Nov. 4th, the intelligence necessarily
reached Quebec in one or two days ; but a week
or fortnight before this Gov. Cramahe had been
apprized of the approach of this army. Arnold
had imprudently sent a letter to Schuyler, en
closed to a friend in Quebec, by an Indian, dated
Oct. 13, and he was himself convinced, from the
preparations made for his reception, that the In
dian had betrayed him. Nov. 5th the troops
arrived at St. Mary's, ten or twelve miles from
Quebec, and remained there three or four davs.
Nov. 9th or 10th they advanced to Point Levi,
opposite Quebec. Forty birch canoes having
been collected, it was still found necessary to
delay crossing the river for three nights on ac
count of a high wind. On the 14th the wind
moderated ; but this delay was very favorable to
the city, for on the 13th Col. M'Lean, an active
officer, arrived with eighty men to strengthen the
garrison, which already consisted of more than a
thousand men, so as to render an assault hope
less. Indeed Arnold himself placed his chief
dependence on the co-operation of Montgomery.
On the 14th of Nov. he crossed the St. Law
rence in the night ; and, ascending the precipice,
which Wolfe had climbed before him, formed his
small corps on the height near the plains of
Abraham. With only about seven hundred men,
one third of whose muskets had been rendered
useless in the march through the wilderness,
success could not be expected. It is surprising,
that the garrison, consisting Nov. 14th of one
thousand one hundred and twenty-six men, did
not march out and destroy the small force of
Arnold. After parading some days on the
ARNOLD.
ARNOLD.
heights near the town, and sending two flags to
summon the inhabitants, he retired to Point aux
Trembles, twenty miles above Quebec, and there
awaited the arrival of Montgomery, who joined
him on the first of December. The city was im
mediately besieged, but the best measures had
been taken for its defence. The able Gen. Carle-
ton had entered the city with sixty men Nov.
20th. On the morning of the last day of the
year an assault was made on the one side of the
lower town by Montgomery, who was killed. At
the same time Col. Arnold, at the head of about
three hundred and fifty men, made a desperate
attack on the opposite side. Advancing with the
utmost intrepidity along the St. Charles through
a narrow path, exposed to an incessant fire of
grape-shot and musketry, as he approached the
first barrier he received a musket ball in the left
leg, which shattered the bone. He was com
pelled to retire, on foot, dragging " one leg after
him" near a mile to the hospital, having lost
sixty men killed and wounded, and three hun
dred prisoners. Although the attack was unsuc
cessful, the blockade of Quebec was continued
till Mav, 1776, when the army, which was in no
condition to risk an assault, was removed to a
more defensible position. Arnold was compelled
to relinquish one post after another, till the 18th
of June, when he quitted Canada. After this
period he exhibited great bravery in the com
mand of the American fleet on Lake Champlain.
In August, 1777, he relieved Fort Schuyler
under the command of Col. Gansevoort, which
was invested by Col. St. Leger with an army of
from fifteen to eighteen hundred men. In the
battle near Stillwater, Sept. 19th, he was engaged
incessantly for four hours. In the action of Oct.
7th, after the British had been driven into the
lines, Arnold pressed forward and under a tre
mendous fire assaulted the works throughout
their whole extent from right to left. The in-
trenchments were at length forced, and with a
few men he actually entered the works ; but his
horse being killed, and he himself badly wounded
in the leg, he found it necessary to withdraw,
and, as it was now almost dark, to desist from the
attack. Being rendered unfit for active service
in consequence of his wound, after the recovery
of Philadelphia he was appointed to the com
mand of the American garrison. When he en
tered the city, he made the house of Gov. Penn,
the best house in the city, his head-quarters.
This he furnished in a very costly manner, and
lived far beyond his income. He had wasted the
plunder, which he had seized at Montreal in his
retreat from Canada ; and at Philadelphia he was
determined to make new acquisitions. He laid
his hands on every thing in the city, which could
be considered as the property of those, who were
unfriendly to the cause of his country. He was
charged with oppression, extortion, and enormous
charges upon the public in his accounts, and with
I applying the public money and property to his
I own private use. Such was his conduct, that he
drew upon himself the odium of the inhabitants,
not only of the city, but of the province in gen
eral. He was engaged in trading speculations,
and had shares in several privateers, but was un
successful. From the judgment of the commis
sioners appointed to inspect his accounts, who
had rejected above half the amount of his de
mands, he appealed to Congress ; and they ap
pointed a committee of their own body to settle
the business. The committee confirmed the re
port of the commissioners, and thought they had
allowed him more than he had any right to ex
pect. By these disappointments he became irri
tated, and he gave full scope to his resentment.
His invectives against Congress were not less
violent, than those, which he had before thrown
out against the commissioners. He was, however,
soon obliged to abide the judgment of a court
martial upon the charges exhibited against him
by the executive of Pennsylvania; and he was
subjected to the mortification of receiving a repri
mand from Washington. His trial commenced
in June, 1778, but such were the delays occa
sioned by the movements of the army, that it was
not concluded until Jan. 26, 1779. The sentence
of a reprimand was approved by Congress, and
was soon afterwards carried into execution.
Such was the humiliation, to which Gen. Ar
nold was reduced in consequence of yielding to
the temptations of pride and vanity, and indulging
himself in the pleasures of a sumptuous table
and expensive equipage. From this time his
proud spirit revolted from the cause of America.
He turned his eyes to West Point as an acquisi
tion, which would give value to treason, while its
loss would inflict a mortal wound on his former
friends. He addressed himself to the delegation
of New York, in which state his reputation was
peculiarly high, and a member of Congress from
this state recommended him to Washington for
the service, which he desired. The same appli
cation to the commander-in-chief was made not
long afterwards through Gen. Schuyler. Wash
ington observed, that as there was a prospect of
an active campaign he should be gratified with
the aid of Arnold in the field ; but intimated at
the same time, that he should receive the ap
pointment requested, if it should be more pleas
ing to him. Arnold, without discovering much
solicitude, repaired to camp in the beginning of
August, and renewed in person the solicitations,
which had been before indirectly made. He was
now offered the command of the left wing of the
army, which was advancing against New York ;
but he declined it under the pretext, that in con
sequence of his wounds, he was unable to perform
ARNOLD.
ARNOLD.
45
the active duties of the field. Without a sus
picion of his patriotism he was invested with the
command of \Ycst Point. Previously to his so
liciting this station, he had in a letter to Col.
Beverlcy Robinson signified his change of prin
ciples and his wish to restore himself to the favor
of his prince by some signal proof of his repent
ance. This letter opened to him a correspond
ence with Sir Henry Clinton, the object of which
was to concert the means of putting the im
portant post, which he commanded, into the pos
session of the British general. His plan, it is
believed, was to have drawn the greater part of
his army without the works under the pretext
of fighting the enemy in the defiles, and to have
left unguarded a designated pass, through which
the assailants might securely approach and sur
prise the fortress. His troops he intended to
place, so that they Avould be compelled to sur
render, or be cut in pieces. But just as his
scheme was ripe for execution the wise Disposer
of events, who so often and so remarkably inter
posed in favor of the American cause, blasted his
designs.
Maj. Andre, after his detection, apprized Arnold
of his danger, and the traitor found opportunity
to escape on board the Vulture, Sept. 25, 1780, a
few hours before the return of Washington, who
had been absent on a journey to Hartford, On
the very day of his escape Arnold wrote a letter
to Washington, declaring that the love of his
country had governed him in his late conduct,
and requesting him to protect Mrs. Arnold. She
was conveyed to her husband at New York, and
his clothes and baggage, for which he had
written, were transmitted to him. During the
exertions, which were made to rescue Andre from
the destruction, which threatened him, Arnold
had the hardihood to interpose. He appealed to
the humanity of the commander-in-clu'ef, and
then sought to intimidate him by stating the situ
ation of many of the principal characters of
South Carolina, who had forfeited their lives, but
had hitherto been spared through the clemency
of the British general. This clemency, he said,
could no longer in justice be extended to them,
should Maj. Andre suffer.
Arnold was made a brigadier-general in the
British service ; which rank he preserved through
out the war. Yet he must have been held in
contempt and detestation by the generous and
honorable. It was impossible for men of this
description, even when acting with him, to forget
that he was a traitor : first the slave of his rage,
then purchased with gold, and finally secured by
the blood of one of the most accomplished officers
in the British army. One would suppose, that
his mind could not have been much at ease ; but
he had proceeded so far in vice, that perhaps his
reflections gave him but little trouble. "I am
mistaken," says Washington in a private letter,
"if at this time Arnold is not undergoing the
torments of a mental hell. He wants feeling.
From some traits of his character, which have
lately come to my knowledge, he seems to have
been so hackneyed in crime, so lost to all sense of
honor and shame, that while his faculties still
enable him to continue his sordid pursuits, there
will be no time for remorse."
Arnold found it necessary to make some exer
tions to secure the attachment of his new friends.
With the hope of alluring many of the discon
tented to his standard, he published an address
to the inhabitants of America, in which he en
deavored to justify his conduct. He had encoun
tered the dangers of the field, he said, from ap
prehension that the rights of his country were in
danger. He had acquiesced in the Declaration
of Independence, though he thought it precipitate.
But the rejection of the overtures made by Great
Britain in 1778, and the French alliance, had
opened his eyes to the ambitious views of those,
who would sacrifice the happiness of their country
to their own aggrandizement, and had made him
a confirmed loyalist. He artfully mingled asser
tions, that the principal members of Congress
held the people in sovereign contempt. This
was followed in about a fortnight by a proclama
tion, addressed " to the officers and soldiers of the
continental army, who have the real interest of
their country at heart, and who are determined
to be no longer the tools and dupes of Congress
or of France." To induce the American officers
and soldiers to desert the cause, which they had
embraced, he represented, that the corps of
cavalry and infantry, -which he Avas authorized to
raise, would be upon the same footing Avith other
troops in the British senice ; that he should Avith
pleasure adArance those, Avhose valor he might
Avitness ; that the priA'ate men, who joined him,
should receive a bounty of three guineas each, be
sides payment at the full value for horses, arms,
and accoutrements. His object was the peace,
liberty, and safety of America. " You are
promised liberty," he exclaims, " but is there an
indiAidual in the enjoyment of it, saving your op
pressors ? Who among you dare speak or Avrite
Avhat he thinks against the tyranny, which has
robbed you of your property, imprisons your
persons, drags you to the field of battle, and is
daily deluging your country with your blood ? "
" What," he exclaims again, " is America now,
but a land of AvidoAvs, orphans, and beggars ? As
to you, Avho have been soldiers in the continental
army, can you at this day Avant evidence, that the
funds of your country arc exhausted, or that the
managers have applied them to their private
uses ? In either case you surely can no longer
continue in their sen-ice Avith honor or advantage.
Yet you have hitherto been their supporters in
46
ARNOLD.
that cruelty, which with equal indifference to
yours as well as to the labor and blood of others,
is devouring a country, that from the moment you
quit their colors will be redeemed from their
tyranny." These proclamations did not produce
the effect designed ; and in all the hardships,
sufferings, and irritations of the war Arnold
remains the solitary instance of an American
officer, who abandoned the side first embraced in
the contest, and turned his sword upon his former
companions in arms.
He was soon dispatched by Sir Henry Clinton
to make a diversion in Virginia. With about
seventeen hundred men he arrived in the
Chesapeake in Jan., 1781, and being supported by
such a naval force as was suited to the nature of
the service, he committed extensive ravages on
the rivers and along the unprotected coasts. It
is said that, while on this expedition Arnold
inquired of an American captain, whom he had
taken prisoner, what the Americans would do
with him, if he should fall into their hands. The
officer replied, that they would cut off' his lame
leg and bury it with the honors of war, and hang
the remainder of his body in gibbets. After his
recall from Virginia he conducted an expedition
against his native state, Connecticut. He took
Fort Trumbull Sept. 6th, with inconsiderable loss.
On the other side of the harbor Lieut-Col. Eyre,
who commanded another detachment, made an
assault on Fort Griswold, and with the greatest
difficulty entered the works. An officer of the
conquering troops asked, Avho commanded? "I
did," answered Col. Ledyard, " but you do now,"
and presented him his sword, which was in
stantly plunged into his own bosom. A merci
less slaughter commenced upon the brave garrison,
who had ceased to resist, until the greater part
were either killed or wounded. After burning
the town and the stores, which Avere in it, and
thus thickening the laurels, with which his brow
was adorned, Arnold returned to New York in
eight days.
From the conclusion of the war till his death
Gen. Arnold resided chiefly in England. In
1786 he was at St. John's, New Brunswick,
engaged in trade and navigation, and again in
1790. For some cause he became very unpopular
in 1792 or 1793, was hung in effigy, and the j
mayor found it necessary to read the riot act, and j
a company of troops was called to quell the mob.
Repairing to the West Indies in 1794, a French
fleet anchored at the same island ; he became
alarmed lest he should be detained by the Ameri
can allies, and passed the fleet concealed on a :
raft of lumber. He died in Gloucester place, '
London. He married Margaret, the daughter of
Edward Shippen of Philadelphia, chief justice,
and a loyalist. Gen. Greene, it is said, was his
rival. She combined fascinating manners with
ASBURY.
strength of mind. She died at London Aug. 24,
1804, aged 43. His sons were men of property
in Canada in 1829. He fought bravely for his
country and he bled in her cause ; but his counti-y
owed him no returns of gratitude, for his sub
sequent conduct proved, that he had no honest
regard to her interests, but was governed by
selfish considerations. His progress from self-
indulgence to treason was easy and rapid. He
was vain and luxurious, and to gratify his giddy
desires he must resort to meanness, dishonesty,
and extortion. These vices brought with them
disgrace ; and the contempt, into which he fell,
awakened a spirit of revenge, and left him to the
unrestrained influence of his cupidity and passion.
Thus from the high fame, to which his bravery
had elevated him, he descended into infamy.
Thus too he furnished new evidence of the infatu
ation of the human mind in attaching such value
to the reputation of a soldier, which may be
obtained, while the heart is unsound and every
moral sentiment is entirely depraved. — Marshall's
Washington, IV. 271-290; Warren's Hist. War;
Holmes ; Stedman, I. 138, 336 ; n. 247 ; Smith's
Narrative of the Death of Andre ; Maine Hist.
Coll. I.; Amer. Rememb., 1776, part II. ; 1778,
part n.
ARNOLD, PELEG, chief justice of Rhode
Island, was a delegate to Congress under the
confederation, and then was appointed judge. He
died at Smithfield Feb. 13, 1820, aged 68.
ARNOLD, THOMAS, appointed chief justice in
1809, died at Warwick, It. I., Oct. 8, 1820.
ARNOLD, JOSIAH LYNDON, a poet, was born
at Providence and was graduated at Dartmouth
college in 1788. After superintending for some
time the academy at Plainfield, Conn., he studied
law at Providence and was admitted to the bar;
but he did not pursue the profession, being ap
pointed a tutor in the college. On the death,
March, 1793, of his father, Dr. Jonathan Arnold,
formerly a member of Congress, he settled at St.
Johnsbury, Vt., the place of his father's residence,
where he died June 7, 1796, aged 28 years. His
few hasty effusions in verse were published after
his death. — Specimens of Amer. Poetry, II. 77.
ARNOLD, SETH, died at Westminster, Vt.,
Aug. 6, 1849, aged 101 years, 10 months, — a
Revolutionary, pensioner.
ARNOLD, LKMUEL H., governor, died in
Kingston, R. I., June 27, 18u2, aged 59. Born
in St. Johnsbury, he graduated at Dartmouth
in 1811, and left the bar for mercantile pursuits.
He was governor of Rhode Island in 1831 and
1832, and afterwards a member of Congress.
His father, Jonathan, was of the Continental
Congress from Rhode Island.
ASBURY, FIIANCIS, senior bishop of the
Methodist Episcopal church in the Uniled States,
came to this country in 1771 as a preacher, at the
ASH.
ASIIMUN.
47
age of twenty-six. In 1773 the first annual con
ference of the Methodists was held at Philadelphia,
when it consisted of ten preachers and about
eleven hundred members. He was consecrated
bishop by Dr. Coke in 1784. From this time he
travelled yearly through the United States,
probably ordaining three thousand preachers and
preaching seventeen thousand sermons. He died
suddenly while on a journey, at Spotsylvania, Va.,
March 31, 1S1G, aged 70 years. A letter from J.
W. Bond to Bishop M'Kendree gives an account
of his death.
ASH, JOHN, an agent of Carolina, was sent by
that colony to England to seek redress of
grievances, in 1703. In the same year he pub
lished an account of the affairs in Carolina.
ASHE, THOMAS, published in 1682 a description
of Carolina.
ASHE, SAMUEL, governor of North Carolina,
was appointed chief justice in 1777, and was
governor from 1796 to 1799. He died Jan., 1813,
aged 88 years.
ASHLEY, JONATHAN, minister of Deerfield,
Mass., was graduated at Yale college in 1730, and
was ordained in 1738. He died in 1780, aged
67. He possessed a strong and discerning mind
and lively imagination, and was a pungent and
energetic preacher. He proclaimed the doctrines
of grace with a pathos, which was the effect, not
merely of his assent to their Divine authority, but
of a deep sense of their importance and excellency.
He published a sermon on visible saints, vindicating
Mr. Stoddarcl's sentiments respecting church
membership ; a sermon at the ordination of John
Norton, Deerfield, 1741 ; the great duty of
charity, 1742; a letter to W. Cooper, 174*5.
ASHLEY, JOHN, major-general, was the son
of Col. John Ashley, one of the settlers in 1732
of Iloussatonnoc, afterwards Sheffield, died Nov.
5, 1799, aged 60. He descended from Robert
A. of Springfield, 1630, — and was graduated at
Yale college in 17o8. In the Shays' insurrection
he commanded the force, which dispersed the in
surgents at Sheffield Feb. 26, 1787. His daughter
Lydia, married to II. II. Hinman, died in 18<53,
aged 65. — Hint. Berkshire, 213.
ASHLEY, EDWARD, died at Groton, Conn.,
Jan., 1767, aged 108.
ASHLEY, WILLIAM II., general, of St. Louis,
died March 26, 1838. Born in Powhatan county,
Va., at the age of thirty he emigrated to Missouri,
then upper Louisiana, and settled near the lead
mines. He was lieutenant-governor of Missouri,
and a member of Congress 1831-33. He was
respected for his talents, enterprise, and integrity.
In 1822 he projected the "mountain expedition,"
uniting the Indian trade in the Itocky Mountains
with hunting and trapping, and enlisted in the
scheme three hundred men. After losses by
Indian robbery and river disasters he and his as
sociates acquired a handsome fortune.
ASIIMUN,- ELI P., died at Northampton May
10, 1819, aged 48. Born in Blandford, he studied
law with Judge Sedgwick, and practised in his
native town until 1807. In 1816 he was a Senator
of the U. S. A man once asked him for a writ
against his neighbor, saying, " I will sue him, for
he has sued me. I can prove he had the property."
But Mr. A. pushed his inquiries, and asked, if
the purchaser had paid for the property, and
extorted the answer, " There was nobody present,
when he paid me, and he can't prove it." The
man was sent away from the office with a scorching
rebuke.
ASIIMUN, JOHN HOOKER, son of the preceding,
professor of law in Harvard university, died April
1, 1833, aged 32. He was born July 3, 1800, was
graduated at Cambridge in 1818, and appointed
professor in 1829. Dying early, " he had gathered
about him," said Judge Story, " all the honors,
which are usually the harvest of the ripest life."
ASIIMUN, JEHUDI, agent of the American
Colonization Society, died Aug. 25, 1828, aged
34. He was born of pious parents in Champlain,
on the western shore of the lake of the same
name, New York, in April, 1794. In early life he
was an unbeliever ; but it pleased God to disclose
to him the iniquity of his heart and his need of
mercy and the value and glory of the Gospel.
He graduated at Burlington college in 1816, and
after preparing for the ministry was elected a
professor in the theological seminary at Bangor,
Maine, in which place, however, he continued but
a short time. Removing to the District of Co
lumbia, he became a member of the Episcopal
church, edited the Theological Repertory and
published his memoirs of Samuel Bacon. He
also projected a monthly journal for the American
Colonization Society, and published one number ;
but the work failed for want of patronage.
Being appointed to take charge of a reinforcement
to the colony at Liberia, he embarked for Africa
June 19, 1822, and arrived at Cape Montserado
Aug. 8. He had authority, in case he should
find no agent there, to act as such for the society,
and also for the navy department. In the absence
of the agents, it was at a period of great difficulty,
that he assumed the agency. The settlers were
few and surrounded with numerous enemies. It
was necessary for him to act as a legislator and
also as a soldier and engineer, to lay out the
fortifications, superintending the construction, and
this too in the time of affliction from the loss of
his wife and while suffering himself under a fever,
and to animate the emigrants to the resolute pur
pose of self-defence. About three months after
his arrival, just as he was beginning to recover
strength, and while his whole force was thirty-five
48
ASPINWALL.
men and boys, he was attacked at the dawn of
day, Nov. 11, by eight hundred armed savages;
but by the energy and desperate" valor of the
agent the assailants were repulsed, with the loss
of four colonists killed and four wounded, and
again in a few days, when they returned with
redoubled numbers, were utterly defeated. Here
was a memorable display of heroism. The same
energy, diligence, and courage were displayed in
all his' labors for the benefit of the colony. When
ill health compelled him to take a voyage to
America, he was escorted to the place of embarka
tion, March 26, 1828, by three companies of the
militia, and the men, women, and children of
Monrovia parted with him with tears. He left a
community of twelve hundred freemen. The
vessel touched and landed him at St. Bartholo
mew's in very ill health. He arrived at New
Haven Aug. 10th, a fortnight before his death.
In his sickness he was very humble and patient.
He said : " I have come here to die. It is hard to
be broken down by the slow progress of disease.
I wish to be submissive. My sins, my sins ; they
seem to shut me out from that comfort, which I
wish to enjoy. I have been praying for light;
and a little light has come, cheering and refresh
ing beyond expression." An eloquent discourse
was preached by Leonard Bacon at his funeral,
describing his remarkable character, the important
influence on the tribes of Africa of his piety and
regard to justice, and his great services for the
colonists. He was, as Mrs. Sigourney represents,
" Their leader, -when the blast
Of ruthless war swept b}- ; —
Their teacher, when the storm was past,
Their guide to worlds on high."
Mr. Gurlcy, the editor of the African Repository,
is preparing an account of his life. In the Re
pository various communications, written by Mr.
Ashmun, were published ; his memoirs of S.
Bacon have been already mentioned. — African
Repository, IV. 214-224, 286; Christian Spec-
tator, II. 528 ; N. Y. Mercury, I. 13.
ASPINWALL, WILLIAM, M. D., an eminent
physician, was born in Brookline, Mass., in June,
1743, and graduated at Cambridge in 1764. His
ancestor, Peter, was the first settler in Brookline
in 1650. Dr. Aspinwall studied his profession
with Dr. B. Gale of Connecticut, and at Philadel
phia, where he received his medical degree in
1768. In the war of the Revolution he acted as
a surgeon in the army. In the battle of Lexing
ton he served as a volunteer, and bore from the
field the corpse of his townsman, Isaac Gardner,
Esq., whose daughter he afterwards married.
After the death of Dr. Boylston he engaged in
the business of inoculating for the small pox, and
erected hospitals for the purpose. Perhaps no
man in America ever inoculated so many, or had
ATHERTON.
such reputation for skill in that disease. Yet,
when the vaccine inoculation was introduced,
after a proper trial he acknowledged its efficacy
and relinquished his own profitable establishment.
For forty-five years he had extensive practice,
frequently riding on horseback forty miles a day.
In his youth he lost the use of one eye ; in his
old age a cataract deprived him of the other.
He died April 16, 1823, in his 80th year, in the
peace of one, who had long professed the religion
of Jesus Christ and practised its duties. At the
bed of sickness he was accustomed to give re
ligious counsel. His testimony in favor of the
gospel he regarded as his best legacy to his chil
dren. In his political views he was decidedly
democratic or republican ; yet he was not a per
secutor, and when in the council, he resisted the
measures of the violent. He was anxious, that
wise and good men should bear sway, and that
all benevolent and religious institutions should be
perpetuated. His son of the same name suc
ceeded him in his profession. Another son, Col.
Thomas Aspinwall, lost an arm in the war of
1812 and was afterwards appointed consul at
London. — Tliaclier's Medical Biography.
ASPLUND, JOHN, died in Maryland in 1807.
Born a Swede, he was a Baptist minister in Caro
lina in 1782. He was drowned from a canoe in
Maryland. With great labor he prepared the
Register of the Baptist churches in 1791 and
1794.
ASTOR, JOHN JACOB, died in New York March
29, 1848, aged 84. He was born in Waldrop,
near Heidelberg, of humble parents, and came to
Baltimore in 1784, commencing business as a
fur-trader. He made frequent voyages up the
Mohawk to trade with the Indians, and exte'ndcd
his business to the Columbia river, founding As
toria. W. Irving has recorded the over-land
journeys projected by him to the Pacific. Pre
vious to the war of 1812 he had ships in the
Canton trade : their safe arrival during the war
gave him enormous wealth. He purchased Amer
ican stocks at sixty to seventy cents, which after
the Avar were worth twenty per cent, above par.
His chief wealth was from the purchase of real
estate.
ATHERTON, HUMPHREY, major-general, came
to this country about the year 1636, succeeded
Robert Sedgwick in his military office in 1654,
and was much employed in negotiations with the
Indians. He died in consequence of a fall from
his horse Sept. 17, 1661. His residence was at
Dorchester. Among his children are the names
of Rest, Increase, Thankful, Hope, Consider,
Watching, and Patience. — Hope, a graduate of
1665, was the first minister of Hatfield. As
chaplain he was at the Indian battle in Montague,
i May 18, 1676. — Farmer's Genealogical Ueyis-
\ ter ; Savage's Wintlirop, II. 137.
ATHERTON.
AUDUBON.
49
ATHERTdN, CHARLES II., an eminent law
yer, died at Amherst, N. H., Jan. 8, 1853, aged
79, a graduate of Harvard in 1794. He was a
member of Congress 1815-1817, and register of
probate thirty-nine years.
ATHERTON, CHARLES G., son of the pre
ceding, died in Nashua Nov. 15, 1853, aged 53, a
graduate of Harvard in 1822. He was a repre
sentative in Congress 1837-1843, and a senator
from 1843 till his death. lie left a widow, but
no children to inherit an estate of 200,000 or
300.000 dollars.
ATKINS, HEXRY, a navigator, sailed from
Boston in the ship Whale, on a voyage to Davis'
Straits, in 1729. In this and in subsequent voy
ages for the purpose of trade with the Indians,
the last of which was made in 1758, he explored
much of the coast of Labrador. A short account
of his observations was published in the first vol
ume of Mass. Historical Collections.
ATKINS, ELISHA, minister of Killingly, died
June 11, 1839, aged 89, formerly a chaplain in the
army.
ATKINSON, THEODORE, chief justice of New
Hampshire, was born at New Castle, son of Col.
Theodore Atkinson, and graduated at Harvard
college in 1718. He sustained many public offi
ces, civil and military; was secretary in 1741; a
delegate to the congress at Albany in 1754, and
chief justice in the same year. The Revolution
deprived him of the offices of judge and secre
tary. He died in 1779, bequeathing 200 pounds
to the Episcopal church, the interest to be ex
pended in bread for the poor, distributed on the
Sabbath. — Adams' Annals of Portsmouth, 269.
ATKINSON, ISRAEL, an eminent physician,
was a native of Harvard, Mass., and graduated at
Cambridge in 1762. He settled in 1765, at Lan
caster, where he died July 20, 1822, aged 82.
For some years he was the only physician in the
county of Worcester, who had been well edu
cated. — Thaclier's Medical Bioc/rapJty.
ATKINSON, HEXRY, brigadier-general, died
near St. Louis June 20, 1842, aged 60. He en
tered the army in 1808.
ATLEE, SAMUEL JOHN, colonel, commanded
a Pennsylvania company in the French war and a
regiment in the war of the Revolution, and ac
quired great honor in the battle on Long Island,
though taken prisoner and subject to a long cap
tivity. Afterwards he acted as commissioner to
treat with the Indians. In 1780 he was elected
to Congress and was on the committee concern
ing the mutiny of the Pennsylvania troops in
1781. His usual residence was at Lancaster.
He died at Philadelphia in Nov., 1786, aged 48.
ATLEE, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS, a judge of the
supreme court and president of the common pleas
for Lancaster and other counties, died at his scat
on the Susquehanna Sept. 9, 1793. — Jcnnison.
ATWELL, LUCRETIA, Mrs., died at Montville,
Conn., Nov. 1, 1851, aged 102; retaining all her
faculties to the day of her death.
ATWELL, ZACIIARIAH, captain, died at Lynn
in 1847, aged 67. Crossing the Atlantic seventy
times, he never lost a man.
AT WOOD, MARY, the mother of Harriet Newell,
died in Boston July 4, 1853, aged 84. She was
the daughter of Thomas Tenney of East Brad
ford, of an eminent family, and married in 1788
Moses Atwood, a merchant of Haverhill, who
died in 1808. The whole care of her family
now rested upon her ; but she was diligent, pru
dent, prayerful. When her daughter asked her
consent to quit her country in the cause of Christ,
she resigned the beloved one to her work. In
the course of her life her home was with her
children in Medford, Newton, Pittsburg, Granby,
and Philadelphia ; and widely apart did she bury
most of them, to be gathered together in glory
eternal. The Journal of Missions for Sept., 1853,
has a beautiful piece of poetry on her death.
AUCHMUTY, ROBERT, an eminent lawyer,
died in 1750. He was of Scottish descent, and
after his education at Dublin studied law at the
Temple. He came to Boston in early life ; and
on the death of Mr. Menzies was appointed judge
of the court of admiralty in 1703, but held the
place only a few months. In 1740 he was one
of the directors of the Land Bank bubble, or
Manufacturing Company, in which the father of
Samuel Adams was involved. When sent to
England as agent for the colony on the boundary
question with Rhode Island, he projected the
expedition to Cape Breton, publishing a pam
phlet, entitled, " the importance of Cape Breton to
the British nation, and a plan for taking the
place." On the death of Byfield he was again
appointed judge of admiralty in 1733. His daugh
ter married Mr. Pratt. His son Samuel gradu
ated at Harvard college in 1742, was an Episcopal
minister in New York, and received the degree
of doctor in divinity from Oxford. He died
March 3, 1777 ; and his son, Sir Samuel, licut.-
general in the British army, died in 1822. — His
name is introduced in the versification of Hugh
Gaine's petition, Jan. 1, 1783. He is alluded to
also in Trumbull's M'Fingal. His other son,
Robert, a most interesting, persuasive pleader,
defended, with John Adams, Capt. Preston. He
had previously been appointed judge of admiralty
in 1768. His letters, with Ilutchinson's, were
sent to America by Franklin in 1773. Like his
brother, he was a zealous royalist, and left Amer
ica in 1776. He died in England. — Jennison,
Manuscripts ; Thomas, II. 488 ; Hutchinson's Last
History, 401 ; Eliot.
AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES, died at Minniesland,
near New York, Jan. 27, 1851, aged 71. Born
of French parents at New Orleans, he was edu-
50
AUSTIN.
cated at Paris. As early as 1810 he went down
the Ohio in an open boat in search of a forest
home. His life was a life of adventure and ro
mantic interest, hardly a region of the United
States being unvisited by him in his ornithological
pursuits, lie published a splendid work, — Birds
of America, from original drawings, folio ; also
Ornithological biography, 8vo. 1831.
AUSTIN, BENJAMIN, a political writer, died in
Boston May 4, 1820, aged 68. He early espoused
the democratic or republican side in the political
controversy, which raged during the administra
tion of John Adams. He was bold, unflinching,
uncompromising. He assailed others for their
political errors; and he was himself traduced
with the utmost virulence. Perhaps no man ever
met such a tide of obloquy. Yet many, who once
detested his party, have since united themselves
to it. After the triumph of Mr. Jefferson, he
was appointed, without soliciting the place, com
missioner of loans for Mass. In 1806 his son,
Charles Austin, when attempting to chastise Mr.
Selfridge for abuse of his father, was by him shot
and killed in the streets of Boston. Mr. S. was
tried and acquitted. His political writings, with
the signature of " Old South," published in the
Chronicle, were collected into a volume, entitled
" Constitutional Republicanism/' 8vo. 1803.
AUSTIN, JONATHAN LOIUXG, died in Boston
May 10, 1826, aged 78. He rendered important
services in the Revolution. Born in Boston Jan.
2, 1748, he was graduated in 1766 ; was a mer
chant and secretary of the board of war in Mas
sachusetts. He was sent to Paris in 1777 with
news to our commissioners of the capture of Bur-
goyne : presenting a note to Dr. Chauncy's church
for a safe voyage, the Doctor, who was somewhat
unskilful, prayed, that whatever might become of
the young man, the packet might be safe. For
two years in Paris he was Franklin's secretary.
A large cake was once sent to the apartment of
the commissioners, inscribed — " Le digne Frank
lin," — the worthy Franklin. F. immediately re
marked — " The present is for all of us — these
French people cannot write English : they mean
Lee, Deane, Franklin."
As the agent of Franklin he spent two years
in London in the family of the Earl of Shel-
burnc. On his return in May, 1779, he was lib
erally rewarded by Congress. In 1780 in going
to Spain as an agent of the state he was cap
tured and carried to England. lie was secretary
and treasurer of the state, and an exemplary
member of the church. His son, James T. Austin,
was attorney-general in 1832.
AUSTIN, MOSES, an enterprising settler in
upper Louisiana, was a native of Durham, Conn.,
and after residing in Philadelphia and Richmond
emigrated to the west with his family in 1798,
having obtained a considerable grant of land
AUSTIN.
from the Spanish governor. He commenced the
business of mining at Mine au Breton, and cre
ated there a town ; but becoming embarrassed by
his speculations, he sold his estate and purchased
a large tract near the mouth of the river Colorado,
in Mexico. Ere his arrangements for removal
were completed, he died in 1821. Believing the
gospel, he placed his hopes of future happiness
on the atonement of the Saviour. — Schoolcraft's
Travels, 1821, p. 239-250.
AUSTIN, SAMUEL, D. D., president of the uni
versity of Vermont, was born at New Haven,
graduated at Yale college in 1783, and ordained,
as the successor of Allyn Mather, at Fairhaven,
Conn., Nov. 9, 1786, but was dismissed Jan. 19,
1790. He was afterwards for many years pastor
of a church in Worcester, Mass. He was but a
few years at the head of the college in Burling
ton. After his resignation of that place he was
not resettled in the ministry. He died at Glas-
tenbury, Conn., Dec. 4, 1830, aged 70 years.
His wife was a daughter of Dr. Hopkins of Had-
ley. He Avas eminently pious and distinguished
as a minister. With three other ministers he
was the projector of the Massachusetts mission
ary society, and was active in originating the
Mass, general association. Much might be said
of his high intellectual character, of his zeal and
eloquence, his charity, influence, and usefulness.
But for the last three years it pleased God to
cast a thick cloud over his mind, so that he was
in a state of despondence and sometimes in
paroxysms of horror. His last words in prayer
were, " Blessed Jesus ! sanctify me wholly."
He published two important works ; a view of
the church, and theological essays : also letters
on baptism, examining Merrill's seven sermons,
1805 ; reply to Merrill's twelve letters, 1806; and
the following sermons, — on disinterested love,
1790; ordination and installation of S.Worces
ter; on the death of Mrs. Blair, 1792; Mass,
missionary, 1 803 ; dedication at Hadley ; ordina
tion of W. Fay, J. M. Whiton, N. Nelson, G. S.
Olds; at a fast, 1811 : at two fasts, 1812 ; view of
the economy of the church.
AUSTIN, DAYID, died in Norwich, Conn., Feb.
5, 1831, aged 71. His father was collector of the
customs and a merchant in New Haven. — He
graduated in 1779. After travelling abroad he
was ordained at Elizabethtown, N. J., in 1788.
His wife, Lydia Lathrop of Norwich, was the
daughter of a man of wealth. An illness of the
scarlet fever in 1795, it is supposed, affected his
reason. He predicted the second coming of
Christ on the fourth Sunday of May, 1796. As
the event did not cure him of his delusion, the
presbytery dismissed him in 1797. By building
houses for the Jews, who, he thought, were
coming to New Haven, he incurred debts, for
which he was imprisoned. Recovering his reason,
AVERY.
BACKUS.
51
he was the minister of Bozrah from 1815 till his
death. He published in four vols. the "American
Preacher," by various ministers, and the " Down
fall of Babylon."— Observer, Aug. 11, 1844.
AVERY, JOHX, a minister, came to this coun
try in 1635. While sailing from Xewbury towards
Marblehead, where he proposed to settle, he was
shipwrecked in a violent storm Aug. 14, 1635, on
a rocky island, called Thacher's woe and Avery's
fall, and died with his wife and six children. —
Mr. A. Thacher escaped. — His last words were :
" I can lay no claim to deliverance from this
danger, but through the satisfaction of Christ I
can lay claim to heaven : this, Lord, I entreat of
thee." — Magnal. in. 77 ; Savage, I. 165 ; Eliot.
AVERY, WILLIAM, Dr., died in Dedham about
1687, having lived there as early as 1653. Of
his grandchildren, Joseph was the first minister
of Norton from 1714 to 1770, and John the first
minister of Truro, dying in 1754, aged about 70.
Rev. David A. of Holden and Rev. Daniel A. of
Wrentham were also his descendants.
AXTELL, HENRY, D. D., minister of Geneva,
X. Y., was born at Mendham, X. J., in 1773, and
graduated at Princeton in 1796. He went to
Geneva soon after the settlement of that part of
the state, and was very useful. At the time of
his ordination in 1812 his church consisted of
seventy members : at the time of his death of
about 400. In two revivals his labors had been
particularly blessed. He died Feb. 11, 1829,
aged 55. His eldest daughter was placed in the
same grave.
BACHE, RICHARD, postmaster-general of the
United States, was appointed in the place of Dr.
Franklin in Xov. 1776, and was succeeded by
Mr. Hazard in 1782. A native of England, he
came in early life to this country, and was at the
beginning of the Revolution chairman of the re
publican society in Philadelphia. He married in
1767 Sally, the only daughter of Dr. Franklin,
who died in Oct., 1808; he died at Settle in the
county of Berks, Penn., July 29, 1811, aged 74.
BACHE, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, a printer, died
in 1799. He was the son of the preceding, and
accompanied Dr. Franklin to Paris, where he
completed his education as a printer and founder
in the printing house of the celebrated Didot.
After his return in 1785 he pursued with honor
his studies at the college of Philadelphia. In
Oct., 1790, he commenced the publication of the
General Advertiser, the name of which was after
wards changed to that of the Aurora, — a paper,
which under the direction of Mr. Bache and his
successor, Mr. I Hume, exerted a powerful influ
ence on the politics of the country in hostility to
the two first administrations. His widow married
Mr. Duanc. — Jennison's Manuscripts.
BACHE, GEORGE M., a lieutenant in the navy,
was swept from the deck of his ship off Cape Ilat-
teras in a hurricane Sept. 8, 1846. He had toiled
for eight years in a scientific coast-survey, being
chief of a hydrographic party. He was a native
of Philadelphia.
BACHI, PIETRO, died in Boston Aug. 22, 1853,
aged 66. Born in Sicily, he came to this country
in 1825 and was teacher of Italian at Harvard
from 1826 to 1846.
BACKUS, ISAAC, a distinguished Baptist min
ister of Massachusetts, died Xov. 20, 1806, aged
82. He was born at Xorwich in Connecticut, in
1724. In 1741, a year memorable for the revival
of religion through this country, his attention
was first arrested by the concerns of another
world, and he was brought, as he believed, to the
knowledge of the truth, as it is in Jesus. In
1746 he commenced preaching the gospel; and
April 13, 1748, he was ordained first minister of
a Congregational church in Titicut precinct, in the
town of Middlcborough, Mass. This society was
formed in Feb., 1743, in consequence of disputes
with regard to the settlement of a minister. The
members of it wished for a minister of different
sentiments from the man, who was settled, and,
as they could not obtain a dismission from the
church by an ecclesiastical council, at the end
of five years they withdrew without this sanction,
and formed a church by themselves in Feb., 1748.
The society, however, was not permitted now to
rest in peace, for they were taxed with the other
inhabitants of the town for the purpose of build
ing a new meeting-house for the first church.
In 1749 a number of the members of Mr.
Backus' church altered their sentiments with re
gard to baptism, and obtained an exemption from
the congregational tax ; and he at length united
with them in opinion. He was baptized by im
mersion in August, 1751. For some years after
wards he held communion with those, who were
baptized in infancy, but he withdrew from this
intercourse with Christians of other denomina
tions. A Baptist church was formed Jan. 16,
1756, and he was installed its pastor June 23 of
the same year by ministers from Boston and Re-
hoboth. In this relation he continued through
the remainder of his life. He had been enabled
to preach nearly sixty years until the spring before
his death, when he experienced a paralytic stroke,
which deprived him of speech, and of the use of
his limbs.
Mr. Backus was a plain, evangelical preacher,
without any pretensions to eloquence. It may be
ascribed to his natural diffidence that, when
preaching or conversing on important subjects,
he was in the habit of shutting his eyes. To his
exertions the Baptist churches in America owe
not a little of their present flourishing condition.
He was ever a zealous friend to the equal rights
of Christians. When the Congress met at Phil
adelphia in 1774, he was sent as an agent from
52
BACKUS.
the Baptist churches of the Warren association
to support their claims to the same equal liber
ties, wlu'ch ought to be given to every denomina
tion. In October he had a conference with the
Massachusetts delegation and others, at which he
contended only for the same privileges, which
were given to the churches in Boston; and he
received the promise, that the rights of the
Baptists should be regarded. On his return, as a
report had preceded him, that he had been at
tempting to break up the union of the colonies,
he addressed himself to the convention of Mass.
Dec. 9, and a vote was passed, declaring his con
duct to have been correct. When the convention
in 1779 took into consideration the constitution
of the state, the subject of the extent of the civil
power in regard to religion naturally presented
itself, and in the course of debate the perfect
correctness of the Baptist memorial, which was
read at Philadelphia, was called in question. In
consequence of which Mr. Backus published in
the Chronicle of Dec. 2d a narrative of his pro
ceedings as Baptist agent, and brought arguments
against an article in the bill of rights of the con
stitution of Massachusetts. He believed, that the
civil authority had no right to require men to
support a teacher of piety, morality, and religion,
or to attend public worship ; that the church
ought to have no connection with the state ; that
the kingdom of the Lord Jesus was not of this
world, and was not dependent on the kingdoms
of this world; and that the subject of religion
should be left entirely to the consciences of
men.
The publications of Mr. Backus are more
numerous, than those of any other Baptist writer
in America. An abridgement of the whole work
was published in one volume, when the author
was 80 years of age.
Little can be said in commendation of his
three volumes of the history of the Baptists, of
which he published an abridgment, brought
down to 1804. It contains indeed many facts,
for which the public is indebted to the patient in
dustry of the writer, and it must be a very valu
able work to the Baptists, as it presents a minute
account of almost every church of that denom
ination in New England. But these facts are
combined without much attention to the connec
tion, which ought to subsist between them, and
the author shows himself too much under the in
fluence of the zeal of party. — Backus' Church
History, III. 139-141 ; Benedict, n. 267-274.
BACKUS, CHARLES, D. D., an eminent minister,
was born in Norwich, Conn., in 1749. He lost
his parents in his childhood, but, as he early dis
covered a love of science, his friends assisted him
to a liberal education. He was graduated at
Yale college in 1769. His theological education
was directed by Dr. Hart of Preston. In 1774
BACKUS.
he was ordained to the pastoral charge of the
church in Somers, in which town he remained till
his death Dec. 30, 1803, after a faithful ministry
of more than twenty-nine years. In the last
year of his residence at college the mind of Dr.
Backus was impressed by Divine truth, and,
although his conduct had not been immoral, he
was deeply convinced of his sinfulncss in the
sight of God. He was for a time opposed to the
doctrines of the gospel, particularly to the doc
trine of the atonement, and of the dependence
of man upon the special influences of the Holy
Spirit to renew his heart. But at last his pride
was humbled, and he was brought to an acquaint
ance with the way of salvation by a crucified Re
deemer. From this time he indulged the hope
that he was reconciled unto God. A humble and
an exemplary Christian, under the afflictions of
life he quietly submitted to the will of his Father
in heaven. He was a plain, evangelical, impressive
preacher. Knowing the worth of immortal souls,
he taught with the greatest clearness the way of
salvation through faith in the Redeemer, and
enforced upon his hearers that holiness, without
which no man can see the Lord. During his
ministry there were four seasons of peculiar atten
tion to religion among his people. Dr. Backus
was eminent as a theologian. His retired situa
tion and his eminence as an instructor drew
around him many, who were designed for the
Christian ministry. Nearly fifty young men were
members of his theological school, among whom
were Drs. Woods, Church, Hyde, Moore, Davis,
Lovell, and Cooley. He refused invitations to the
theological chair in Dartmouth and Yale. His
only child, a son, a member of college, died in
1794. He was a very fervent, eloquent, extempo
raneous preacher. In his last sickness he had
much of the Divine presence. The last words,
which he was heard to whisper, were, " Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good
will towards men." He published the following
sermons: at the ordination of A. Backus, 1791;
of F. Reynolds, 1795 ; of J. Russell, Princeton,
and T. M. Cooley, 1796 ; of J. H. Church and T.
Snell, 1798; of Z. S. Moore and V. Gould; on
death of J. Howard, 1785; of M. Chapin, 1794;
of Mrs. Prudden ; of six young persons, drowned
at Wilbraham, 1799; to free masons, 1795; five
on the truth of the Bible, 1797 ; century sermon,
1801; a volume on regeneration.
BACKUS, AZEL, D. D., president of Ham
ilton college, died Dec. 28, 1816, aged 51.
He was the son of Jabez Backus of Norwich,
Conn. His father bequeathed to him a farm in
Franklin, which, he says, " I wisely exchanged for
an education in college." He was graduated at
Yale in 1787. While in college he was a deist;
but his uncle and friend, Charles Backus of
Somers, won him from infidelity through the
BACOS.
BACON.
53
Divine blessing, and reared him up for the minis
try. From the time that he believed the gospel,
he gloried in the cross. In early life he was or
dained as the successor of Dr. Bellamy at Beth-
lorn, where he not only labored faithfully in the
ministry, but also instituted and conducted a school
of considerable celebrity. After the establishment
of Hamilton college, near Utica, he was chosen
the first president, and was succeeded by President
Davis of Middlebury college. He was a man of
an original cast of thought, distinguished by sus
ceptibility and ardor of feeling and by vigorous
and active piety. Of his benevolence and good
ness no one could doubt. In his sermons, though
familiar and not perhaps sufficiently correct and
elevated in style, he was earnest, affectionate, and
faithful. He published a sermon on the death of
Gov. Wolcott, 1797; at the election, 1798; at the
ordination of John Frost, Whitesborough, 1813.
— Belig. Intel. I. 527, 592; Panoplist, XIII. 43.
BACON, NATHANIEL, general, a Virginia rebel,
died Oct. 1, 1G76. He was educated at the Inns
of court in England, and after his arrival in this
country was chosen a member of the council.
He was a young man of fine accomplishments, of
an interesting countenance, and of impressive
eloquence. The treachery of the English in the
murder of six Woerowances or Indian chiefs, who
came out of a beseiged fort in order to negotiate
a treaty, induced the savages to take terrible
vengeance, inhumanly slaughtering sixty for the
six, for they thought that ten for one was a just
atonement for the loss of their great men. Their
incursions caused the frontier plantations to be
abandoned. Thus did the crime of the Virginians,
as is always the case with public crime, draw after
it punishment. The governor, Berkeley, resorted
to the wretched policy of building a few forts on
the frontiers, which could have no effect in pre
venting the incursions of the savages, who quickly
found out, as an old history of the affair expresses
it, " where the mouse-traps were set!" The people,
in their indignation, determined on wiser and
more active measures. Having chosen Bacon as
their general, he sent to their governor for a
commission, but being refused, he marched with
out one at the head of eighty or ninety men, and
in a battle defeated the Indians and destroyed
their magazine. In the mean time the governor,
at the instigation of men who were envious of the
rising popularity of Bacon, proclaimed him a
rebel May 29, 1G7G, and marched a force against
him to " the middle plantation," or Williamsburg,
but in a few days returned to meet the assembly.
Bacon himself soon proceeded in a sloop with
thirty men to Jamestown ; but was taken by sur
prise and put in irons. At his trial before the
governor and council June 10, he was acquitted
and restored to the council, and promised also in
two days a commission as general for the Indian
war, agreeably to the passionate wishes of the
people. Their regard to him will account for his
acquittance. As the governor refused to sign the
promised commission, Bacon soon appeared at the
head of five hundred men and obtained it by
force. Thus was he " crowned the darling of the
people's hopes and desires." Nor did the people
misjudge as to his capacity to serve them. By
sending companies under select officers into the
different counties to scour the thickets, swamps,
and forests, where the Indians might be sheltered,
he restored the dispersed people to their planta
tions. While he was thus honorably employed,
the governor again proclaimed him a rebel. This
measure induced him to countermarch to Wil
liamsburg, whence he issued, Aug. 6, his declara
tion against the governor and soon drove him
across the bay to Accomac. He also exacted of
the people an oath to support him against the
forces employed by the governor. He then
prosecuted the Indian war. In September he
again put the governor to flight and burned
Jamestown, consisting of sixteen or eighteen
houses and a brick church, the first that was built
in Virginia. At this period he adopted a singular
expedient to prevent an attack by the governor,
beseiged by him. He seized the wives of several
of the governor's adherents and brought them
into camp; then sent word to their husbands,
that they would be placed in the fore front of his
men. Entirely successful on the western shore,
Bacon was about to cross the bay to attack the
governor at Accomac, when he was called to sur
render up his life " into the hands of that grim
and all conquering captain, Death." In his sick
ness he implored the assistance of Mr. Wading, a
minister, in preparing for the future world.
After the death of Bacon one Ingram, a Aveak
man, assumed his commission, but was soon won
over by the governor. Among his followers, who
were executed, was Col. Hansford, who, with the
feelings of Maj. Andre, had no favor to ask, but
that " he might be shot like a soldier, and not be
hanged like a dog ; " also Capt. Carver, and Far-
low, and Wilford. Maj. Cheisman died in prison.
Drummond also, formerly governor of Carolina,
and Col. llichard Lawrence were \ictims of this
civil war, which, besides the loss of valuable lives,
cost the colony 100,000 pounds. After reading
; the history of this rebellion, one is ready to per
suade himself, that its existence might have been
prevented, had the governor consulted the wishes
of the people by giving Bacon the command in
the Indian war ; had he been faithful to his own
promise ; had he not yielded to the envious or
malignant counsels of others. Had Bacon lived
and been triumphant, he would probably have
been remembered, not as an insurgent, but as the
deliverer of his country. Yet it is very obvious,
that under an organized government he did not
BACON.
BADGER.
prove himself a good citizen, but was an artful
demagogue, and borne away by a reprehensible
and rash ambition. — Death of Bacon; Keith's
Hist, of Virginia, 156-162; Chalmers, I. 332-
335; Beverly, 105; Wynne, II. 222, 223; Mar
shall, I. 198-201.
BACON, THOMAS, an Episcopal minister at
Frederictown, Md., died May 24, 1768. He
compiled " a complete system of the revenue of
Ireland," published in 1737 ; also a complete body
of the laws of Maryland, fol., 1765. He also
wrote other valuable pieces. — Jenn.
BACON, JACOB, first minister of Keene, N. II.,
died at Rowley in 1787, aged 81. A graduate of
Harvard in 1731, he was ordained in 1738. The
settlement was broken up by the Indians in
April, 1747. He afterwards was settled in Ply
mouth. His successors at K. were Carpenter,
Sumner, Hall, Oliphant, and Barstow. The last
was ordained July 1, 1818.
BACON, JOHN, minister, of Boston, died Oct.
25, 1820. He was a native of Canterbury,
Conn., and was graduated at the college of
New Jersey in 1765. After preaching for a time
in Somerset county, Maryland, he and John Hunt
were settled as colleague pastors over the old
south church in Boston, as successors to Mr.
Blair, Sept. 25, 1771. His style of preaching
was argumentative ; his manner approaching the
severe. Difficulties soon sprung up in regard to
the doctrines of the atonement and of imputation
and the administration of baptism on the half
way covenant, which led to the dismission of Mr.
Bacon Feb. 8, 1775. His views seem to have
been such as now prevail in New England, while
his church advocated limited atonement and the
notion of the actual transference of the sins of
believers to Christ and of his obedience to them.
Probably the more popular talents of Mr. Hunt
had some influence in creating the difficulty. Mr.
Bacon removed to Stockbridge, Berkshire county,
where he died. He was a magistrate ; a repre
sentative ; associate and presiding judge of the
common pleas ; a member and president of the
state senate ; and a member of Congress. In his
political views he accorded with the party of Mr.
Jefferson. He married the widow of his prede
cessor, Mr. Gumming. She was the daughter of
Ezekiel Goldthwait, register of deeds. His son,
Ezekiel Bacon, was a distinguished member of
Congress just before the war of 1812. He pub
lished a sermon after his installation, 1772 ; an
answer to Huntington on a case of discipline,
1781 ; a speech on the courts of U. S., 1802 ; con
jectures on the prophecies, 1805. — Wisner's Hist.
0. 8. Church, 33; Hint, of Berkshire, 104, 201.
BACON, MARY, died at Providence July 3,
1848, aged 108 ; born June 10, 1740, the daughter
of John Matthewson.
BACON, SAMUEL, agent of the American gov-
ernment for establishing a colony in Africa, was an
Episcopal clergyman. He proceeded in the
Elizabeth to Sierra Leone with eighty-two colored
people, accompanied by Mr. Bankson, also agent,
and Dr. Crozer ; and arrived March 9, 1820. The
Augusta schooner was purchased and the people
and stores were transhipped, and carried to
Campelar in Sherbro river March 20th. Dr.
Crozer and Mr. Bankson died in a few weeks, and
Mr. Bacon being taken ill on the 17th April
proceeded to Kent, at Cape Shilling, but died two
days after his arrival, on the 3d of May. Many
others died. The circular of the colonization
society, signed by E. B. Caldwell, Oct. 26,
describes this disastrous expedition. — Memoirs
by Ashmun.
BADGER, STEPHEN, minister of Natick, Mass.,
was born in Charlestown in 1725 of humble
parentage, and graduated at Harvard college in
1747, his name being last in the catalogue, when
the names were arranged according to parental
dignity. Employed by the commissioners for
propagating the Gospel in New England, he was
ordained as missionary over the Indians at Natick,
as successor of Mr. Peabody, March 27, 1753,
and died Aug. 28, 1803, aged 78 years. Mr.
Biglow represents him as in reality a Unitarian,
although not avowedly such. He published a
letter from a pastor against the demand of a con
fession of particular sins in order to church fellow
ship ; a letter concerning the Indians in the Mass.
hist, collections, dated 1797 ; and two discourses
on drunkenness, 1774, recently reprinted. In
his letter concerning the Indians he states, that
Deacon Ephraim, a good Christian Indian of his
church, on being asked how it was to be accounted
for, that Indian youths, virtuously educated in
English families, were apt, when losing the re
straints under which they had been brought up,
to become indolent and intemperate like others,
replied : " Ducks will be ducks, notwithstanding
they are hatched by the hen," — or in his own
imperfect English — "Tucks will be tucks, for all
ole hen he hatchum." Another Indian of Natick
once purchased a dram at a shop in Boston, and
the next spring, after drinking rum at the same
shop, found that the price of the poison was
doubled. On inquiring the reason, the dealer
replied, that he had kept the cask over winter,
and it was as expensive as to keep a horse.
" Hah," replied the Indian, " he no eat so much
hay ; but I believe he drink as much water ! "
Of the strength of rum the Naticks were un
happily too good judges. It is deplorable, that in
1797 there were among the Natick Indians, for
whom the apostolic Eliot labored, only two or
three church-members, and not one who could
speak their language, into which he translated the
Bible. Among the many causes of their degene
racy may be mentioned the sale of their lands,
BADGER.
DAILY.
55
their intermixture with blacks and whites, leaving
only about twenty clear-blooded Indians, their
unconquerable indolence and propensity to excess,
and perhaps the want of zeal on the part of their
religious teachers. In 1670 there were forty or
fifty church-members. The number of Indians
in 1749 was one hundred and sixty; in 1703 only
thirty-seven. The war of 1759 and a putrid fever
had destroyed many of them. — Si glow's Hist.
Natick, 59^-69, 77 ; Col. Hist. Soc. \. 32-45.
BADGER, WILLIAM, governor of N. H., died
at Gilmanton Sept. 21, 1852, aged 73. He was
governor in 1834 and 1835 and had sustained
many offices.
BADGER, RACHEL, Mrs., died at Lynde-
borough, X. II., 1834, aged 100.
BADGER, JOSEPH, died at Perrysburgh May
5, 184G, aged 87, a soldier of the Revolution, and
chaplain under Harrison at Fort Meigs ; an ex
emplary Christian.
BADLAM, STEPHEN, brigadier-general of the
militia, died in Aug., 1815. He was born in Can
ton, Mass., and joined the American army in
1775. In the next year, as major of artillery, he
took possession, July 4th, of the mount, which
from that circumstance was called Mount Inde
pendence. He did good service with his fieklpiece
in the action at Fort Stanwix, under Willett, in
Aug., 1777. His residence was at Dorchester,
where he was an eminently useful citizen, acting
as a magistrate and a deacon of the church. —
Codman's Funeral Sermon ; Panoplist, XI. 572.
BAILEY, MOUNTJOY, general, died at Wash
ington March 22, 1836, aged 81 ; an officer of the
Revolution.
BAILEY, EBENEZER, died at Lynn Mineral
Springs Aug., 1839, long an eminent teacher of
youth in Boston. A lock-jaw was occasioned by
running a nail into his foot.
BAILEY, MOSES, died in Andover, Mass.,
March 14, 1842, aged 98, leaving one hundred
and thirty-five descendants.
BAILEY, JACOB, a graduate of Harvard in
1755, died in 1808, an Episcopal preacher in
Pownalborough and Xova Scotia. His journal
was published in 1853, with a biography by W. J.
Bartlet.
BAILY, JOHN, an excellent minister in Boston,
died in 1697, aged 53. He was born in 1644 in
Lancashire, England. From his earliest years
his mind seems to have been impressed by the
truths of religion. While he was yet very young,
his mother one day persuaded him to lead the
devotions of the family. When his father, who
was a very dissolute man, heard of it, his heart
was touched with a sense of his sin in the neglect
of this duty, and he became afterwards an
eminent Christian. After having been carefully
instructed in classical learning, he commenced
preaching the gospel about the age of twenty-two.
He soon went to Ireland, where by frequent
labors he much injured his health, which was
never perfectly restored. He spent about fourteen
years of his life at Limerick, and was exceedingly
blessed in his exertions to turn men from dark
ness to light. Yet while in this place as well as
previously, he was persecuted by men, who were
contending for form and ceremony in violation of
the precepts and the spirit of the gospel. While
he was a young man, he often travelled far by
night to enjoy the ordinances of the gospel,
privately administered in dissenting congregations,
and for this presumptuous offence he was some
times thrown into Lancashire jail. As soon as he
began to preach, his fidelity was tried, and he
suffered imprisonment because in his conscience
he could not conform to the established church.
While at Limerick a deanery was offered him, if
he would conform, with the promise of a bishopric
upon the first vacancy. But disdaining worldly
things, when they came in competition with duty
to his Saviour and the purity of Divine worship,
he rejected the offer in true disinterestedness and
elevation of spirit. But neither this proof, that
he was intent on higher objects, than this world
presents, nor the blamelessness of his life, nor the
strong hold, which he had in the affections of his
acquaintance, could preserve him from again
suffering the hardships of imprisonment, while
the papists in the neighborhood enjoyed liberty
and countenance. When he was before the
judges he said to them, "If I had been drinking,
and gaming, and carousing at a tavern with my
company, my lords, I presume, that would not
have procured my being thus treated as an
offender. Must praying to God, and preaching
of Christ with a company of Christians, who are
peaceable and inoffensive and as serviceable to his
majesty and the government as any of his sub
jects; must this be a greater crime?" The
recorder answered, " We will have you to know
it is a greater crime." His flock often fasted and
prayed for his release ; but he was discharged on
this condition only, that he should depart from
the country within a limited time.
He came to New England in 1684, and was
ordained the minister of Watertown, Oct. 6, 1686,
with his brother, Thomas Bailey, as his assistant ;
he removed to Boston in 1692, and became as
sistant minister of the first church July 17, 1693,
succeeding Mr. Moody. In 1696 Mr. Wadsworth
was settled. His brother, Thomas, who died in
Watertown in Jan., 1689, wrote Latin odes at
Lindsay in 1668, which are in manuscript in the
library of the Mass. Historical Society.
He was a man eminent for piety, of great sen
sibility of conscience, and very exemplary in his
life. It was his constant desire to be patient and
resigned under the calamities, which were ap
pointed him, and to fix his heart more upon
56
BAINBRIDGE.
things above. — His ministry was very acceptable
in different places, and he was a warm and ani
mated preacher. Dunton says, " I heard him
upon these words — ' Looking unto Jesus ' — and
I thought he spake like an angel." But with all
his faithfulness he saw many disconsolate hours.
He was distressed with doubts respecting him
self; but his apprehensions only attached him
the more closely to his Redeemer.
In his last sickness he suffered under a com
plication of disorders ; but he did not complain.
His mind was soothed in dwelling upon the suf
ferings of his Saviour. At times he was agitated
with fears, though they had not respect, as he
said, so much to the end, as to what he might
meet in the way. His last words were, speaking
of Christ, " O, what shall I say ? He is altogether
lovely. His glorious angels are come for me ! "
He then closed his eyes, and his spirit passed
into eternity. He published an address to the
people of Limerick ; and man's chief end to
glorify God, a sermon preached at Watertown,
1089. — Middleton's Evang, Biography, iv.
101-105; Nonconformist Memorial, i. 331-335;
Mather's Funeral Sermon ; Magnalia, in. 224-
238; Eliot.
BAIXBRIDGE, WILLIAM, commodore, died at
Philadelphia July 27, 1833, aged 59. He was
born at Princeton, N. J., the son of Dr. Absalom
B. : in 1798 he was a lieutenant in the navy ; in
1800 he commanded a frigate and sailed for
Algiers. In consequence of his vessel's grounding
before Tripoli, he was captured in the Philadel
phia in 1800. In the Constitution he captured
the British frigate Java, Dec. 29, 1812. After the
war he had the command at several naval sta
tions : for several years he was commissioner of
the navy board.
BAIRD, THOMAS D., editor of the Pittsburgh
Christian Herald, died Jan. 7, 1839, aged 65.
BALCH, WILLIAM, minister of Bradford, Mass.,
was born at Beverly in 1704 and graduated in
1724. He was a descendant of John Balch,
who came to this country about 1625 and died at
Salem in 1648. Ordained in 1728 over the sec
ond church in Bradford, he there passed lu's
days, and died Jan. 12, 1792, aged 87 years.
About the year 1742 or 1743 several members,
a minority of his church, dissatisfied with his
preaching, applied to a neighboring church to
admonish their pastor, agreeably to the Platform.
A council was convened, which censured the con
duct of the complainants. But in 1746 Mr. Wig-
glesworth and Mr. Chipman, ministers of Ipswich
and Beverly, accused Mr. Balch of propagating
Arminian tenets. He wrote a reply, mingling
keen satire with solid argument. After this, they,
who were dissatisfied with Mr. Balch, built a
meeting-house for themselves. In his old age he
received a colleague. He lived in. retirement,
BALDWIN.
occupied in agriculture, and raising the best
apples in Essex. His mental powers retained
their vigor in old age. New writings delighted
him; and he engaged freely in theological dis
cussion. — He published the following discourses:
on reconciliation, 1740; faith and Avorks, 1743;
at the election, 1749; at the convention, 1760;
account of the proceedings of the 2d church;
reply to Wigglesworth and Chipman, 1746. —
Eliot ; Mass. Historical Collections, rv. s. s. 145.
BALCH, THOMAS, first minister of the 2d parish
of Dedham, died in 1774, aged about 60. He
graduated in 1733, and was ordained in 1736.
He published a sermon at the ordination of J.
Newman, Edgartown, 1747 ; Christ present, 1748 ;
at election, 1749; ordination of W. Patten, 1757;
at artillery election, 1763.
BALCH, STEPHEN B., D. D., died at George
town, D. C., Sept, 22, 1833, aged 86.
BALCH, JOSEPH, died in Johnstown, N. Y.,
Dec. 5, 1855, aged 95, a soldier of the Revolu
tion, then of Wethcrsfield. At the age of about
80 he made a Christian profession. On the day
of his death he was attending a public fast : the
Bible fell from his hands, and he died.
BALDWIN, EBENEZER, minister of Danbury,
Conn., was graduated at Yale college in 1763, and
was tutor in that seminary from 1766 to 1770.
He was ordained as successor of Mr. Warner and
Mr. White, Sept. 19, 1770, and died Oct. 1, 1776,
aged 31 years. He was a man of great talents
and learning, an unwearied student, grave in
manners, and an able supporter of the sound
doctrines of the gospel. He left a legacy of
about 300 pounds to his society, which is appro
priated to the support of religion. — Bobbins'
Centennial Sermon.
BALDWIN, JONATHAN, died at Brookficld in
1788, aged 57. He was a captain in the French
war ; and was a prominent member of the Mass,
congress in 1774 : a colonel in the Revolutionary
struggle. A soldier, a patriot, a Christian, he was
also a friend of literature, leaving a bequest to
Leicester academy.
BALDWIN, ABRAHAM, a distinguished states
man, was born in Connecticut in 1754 and grad
uated at Yale college in 1772. From 1775 to
1779 he was a tutor in that seminary, being an
eminent classical and mathematical scholar. Hav
ing studied law, he removed to Savannah and was
admitted a counsellor at the Georgia bar, and in
three months was elected a member of the state
legislature. At the first session he originated
the plan of the university of Georgia, drew up
the charter, by which it was endowed with forty
thousand acres of land, and, vanquishing many
prejudices, by the aid of John Milledge persuaded
the assembly to adopt the project. The college
was located at Athens, and Josiah Meigs was ap
pointed its first president. Being elected a dele-
BALDWIN.
BALDWIN.
57
gate to congress- in 1786, he was an active mem
ber of the convention, which formed the present
constitution of the United States, during its ses
sion from May 25 to Sept. 17, 1787. After its
adoption he was continued a member of congress
until 1799, when he was appointed as colleague
with Mr. Millcdge a senator, in which station he
remained until his death, at Washington city,
March 4, 1807, aged 53 years. His remains were
placed by the side of his friend and former col
league, Gen. J. Jackson, whom he had followed to
the grave just one year before. He was the
brother-in-law of Joel Barlow. Having never
been married, his economy put it in his power to
assist many young men in their education. His
father dying in 1787 with little property, six
orphan children, his half brothers and sisters,
were protected and educated by him, and owed
every tiling to his care and affection. In public
life he was industrious and faithful. Though firm
in his own republican principles during the con
tests of the last ten years of his life, he was yet
moderate, and indulgent towards his opponents.
Until a week before his death his public sen-ices
for twenty-two years had been uninterrupted by
sickness. — National Intelligencer.
BALDWIN, THOMAS, D. D., a Baptist minister
in Boston, was born in Norwich, Conn., Dec. 23,
1753. After he had removed to Canaan, in New
Hampshire, he became pious, and joined the
Baptist church in 1781. It was with pain, that
he thus forsook his connections and early friends,
for he had been educated a pedo-Baptist and his
venerable minister at Norwich was his grand
uncle. Having for some time conducted the re
ligious exercises at public meetings, in Aug., 1782,
he ventured for the first time to take a text and
preach doctrinally and methodically. His ad
vantages for intellectual culture had been few.
At the request of the church he was ordained
June 11, 1783, as an evangelist, and he performed
the duties of pastor for seven years, besides
preaching often during each week in the towns
within a circle of fifty miles, " chiefly at his own
charges," sometimes receiving small presents, but
never having a public contribution. In these jour
neys he was obliged to climb rocky steeps and to
pass through dismal swamps; and as the poor
people had no silver, and the continental cur
rency was good for nothing, sometimes the trav
elling preacher was obliged either to beg or to
starve. For several years he was chosen a mem
ber of the legislature.
In 1790 he was invited to Boston, as the pastor
of the second Baptist church. He now success
fully pursued a course of study, and by his un
wearied exertions acquired a high rank as a
preacher. His church, though small in 1790, be
came under his care numerous and flourishing.
Of his own denomination in New England he
8
was the head, and to him all his brethren looked
for advice. Besides being connected with most
of the benevolent institutions of Boston, he was a
member of the convention for revising the con
stitution of the state, and just before his death
was fixed upon, by one party among the people,
as a candidate for an elector of president of the
United States. He died very suddenly at Water-
ville, Me., whither he had gone to attend the
commencement, Aug. 29, 1825, aged 71 years.
The following stanza on his death will apply to a
multitude of others, recorded in this work.
" He was a goorl man. Yet amid onr tears
Sweet, grateful thoughts within our bosoms rise ;
We trace his spirit up to brighter spheres,
And think with what pure, rapturous surprise
He found himself translated to the skies :
From night at once awoke to endless noon.
Oh ! with what transport did his eager eyes
Behold his Lord ia glory ? 'T was the boon
His heart had longed for ! Why deem we it came to soon ? "
He published the following discourses : at the
thanksgiving, 1795 ; quarterly sermon ; at the
concert of prayer ; account of revival of religion,
1799 ; on the death of Lieut-Gov. Phillips ; elec
tion sermon, 1802 ; on the eternal purpose of
God ; at thanksgiving ; before a missionary soci
ety, 1804; at the ordination of D. Merrill, 1805;
installation of J. Winchell, 1814 ; before the fe
male asylum, 1806; on the death of Dr. Still-
man ; at the artillery election, 1807 ; and the bap
tism of believers only, and particular communion
vindicated, 12mo. 1806. Of this work the first
and second parts were originally published in
1789 and 1794.
BALDWIN, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, libra
rian of the Antiquarian Society at Worcester, wras
killed by the upsetting of a stage, in which he
was travelling, at Norwich, Ohio, Aug. 20, 1835,
aged 35. He was riding with the driver, and
leaped from the stage for security, but fell back
from the bank.
BALDWIN, LOAMMI, died at Charlestown,
June 30, 1838, of paralysis. He was graduated
in 1800, and educated for the law, but became
one of the most distinguished civil engineers of
our country. The dry docks at the navy yards at
Charlestown and near Norfolk and other public
works attested his skill. He was lamented by
many friends.
BALDWIN, ELILTU W., D. D., president of
Wabash college, Crawfordsville, Ind., died Oct.
15, 1840, aged 50. Born at Durham, N. Y., he
graduated at Yale in 1812, studied at Andover,
and was a minister in New York from 1820 to
1835. He died in peace and joyful hope.
BALDAVIN, ELI, D. D., of the Reformed
Dutch Church at New Brunswick, N. J., died in
1839.
BALDWLN, ASIIBEL, died at Rochester, New
York, Feb. 8, 1846, aged 89. A graduate of
58
BALDWIN.
BANISTER.
Yale, he served in the army, and \vas ordained by
Bishop Seabury in 1785 — the first Episcopal or
dination in the U. S. He was secretary of the
general Episcopal convention many years.
BALDWIN, HENRY, Judge, died in Philadel
phia Apr. 21, 1844, aged Go. A native of New
Haven, he graduated in 1797, and settled in
Pennsylvania. lie was a member of Congress
and judge of the Supreme Court of the U. S. ;
and was highly respected.
BALDWIN, SIMEON, judge, died in New Ha
ven May 26, 1851, aged 89. He was born in
Norwich and graduated 1781. After being a
tutor for several years he commenced the practice
of the law in 1786. He was in congress from
1803 to 1805 ; a judge of the superior court in
1806; in 1822 president of the Farmington canal
board ; and mayor of the city in 1826.
BALDWIN, METHUSELAH, minister of Scotch-
town, N. Y., died in 1847, aged 84.
BALDWIN, CYRUS, Dr., died in Goodrich,
Mich., Aug., 1855, aged 81. Born in Worcester,
he assisted as an earnest Christian in founding
churches in Baldwinsviile, N. Y., and elsewhere.
He lived in Hebron, and in Home, Mich., in
Grand Blanc, in Atlas, and Goodrich.
BALFOUR, WALTER, died in Charlestown,
Jan. 3, 1852, aged 74; a Scotchman, who came
early to this country as a Presbyterian preacher.
After ten years he became a Baptist, and in a few
years more a Universalist. He published inqui
ries, essays, reply and letters to Mr. Stuart, and
letters to Mr. Hudson. He had also a contro
versy with Sabinc and Whitman.
BALL, HEMAN, 1). D., died at Rutland, Vt,
Dec. 17, 1821, aged 57, highly respected and of
extensive influence. He was a native of West
Springfield, and a graduate of Dartmouth in 1791.
He published a sermon on the death of Washing
ton.
BALL, LUCY, missionary to China, died June
6, 1844, aged 37. Her name was Mills of New
Haven ; her husband was Dyer Ball, who em
barked in 1838. Her oldest daughter made a
profession of religion in the presence of all the
missionaries at Hong Kong a few weeks before
her mother's death.
BALLANTLNE, JOHN, minister of Wcstfield,
was the son of John B. of Boston, clerk of court
and register of deeds, and of Mary Winthrop,
daughter of Adam W. ; was graduated in 1735
and was ordained June 17, 1741. He died Feb.
12, 1776, aged 59. His wife was Mary, daughter
of Luther Gay and sister of Dr. Gay of Suflield.
His son, Wm. G., a graduate of 1771, died in
1854 ; he was the minister of Washington, Mass.,
ancestor of Rev. Henry B., missionary to India.
His daughter, Mary, married Gen. Ashley. He
published a sermon on the march of a company
to Crown Point June 2, 1756.
BALLARD, JOHN B., died in New York Jan.
29, 185G, aged 60. A native of Dudley, Mass.,
he was the pastor of several Baptist churches,
then a dozen years the agent of the Sunday
school union in N. C. and Ky. ; last a useful tract
missionary six years in N. Y.
BALLOU, HOSEA, died June 7, 1851, aged 80.
Born in Richmond, N. II., the son of a Baptist
minister, he was a member of the Baptist church ;
but on becoming a Universalist he was excluded
from the church. He was settled in Dana, Barn
ard, Vt., Portsmouth, Salem ; and in the School
street church in Boston from 1817 till his death.
He published two orations ; a dedication and or
dination sermon ; orthodoxy unmasked ; reply to
T. Merritt ; divine benevolence, 1815 ; strictures
on Channing's sermon ; series of lecture sermons,
1818; series of letters; on the atonement, 1828.
BANCROFT, AARON, D. D., died at Worces
ter Aug. 19, 1839, aged 84. Born at Reading in
1735, he graduated at Cambridge in 1778, and
was the minister of a Unitarian church from 1786
till his death. He was the father of Mr. Bancroft,
the historian.
He published eulogy on Washington, 1800;
life of Washington, 1807 ; election sermon, 1801 ;
on conversion, 1818; convention sermon, 1820;
sermons on the doctrines of the gospel, 1822 ; on
the death of John Adams; at the end of fifty
years of his ministry ; and about twenty-five other
single sermons and controversial pieces.
BANISTER, JOHN, an eminent botanist, was
a native of England. After passing some time
in the West Indies he came to Virginia and set
tled on James River, near James Town. Rees
I speaks of him as a clergyman. In 1680 he trans
mitted to Mr. Ray a catalogue of plants, observed
by him in Virginia, which was published by Ray
in the second volume of his history of plants, in
the preface to the supplement of which work,
published in 1704, he speaks of Banister as an
illustrious man, who had long resided in Virginia,
devoted to botanical pursuits, and as drawing with
his own hand the figures of the rarer species. He
mentions a!ro, thnt he had fallen a victim to his
favorite pursuit before he had completed a work,
in which he was engaged, on the natural history
of Virginia. In one of his botanical excursions,
while clambering the rocks, Banister fell and was
killed. This event occurred after 1687 and prob
ably before the end of the century. Many of his
descendants arc living in Virginia and are very
respectable. In honor of him Dr. Houston
named a plant Banisteria, of which twenty-four
species are enumerated. Lawson says, he " was
the greatest virtuoso we ever had on the conti
nent." Besides his " catalogue of plants," his prin
cipal work in the philosophical transactions 1693,
other communications on natural history were
published ; observations on the natural produc-
BANNEKER.
BARD.
59
tions of Jamaica; the insects of Virginia, 1700;
curiosities in Virginia ; observations on the musca
lupus ; on several sorts of snails ; a description
of the pistolochia or serpentaria Virginiana, the
snake root. — Barton's Med. Jour. II. 134-139 ;
Hay's Sup.; Lau'son, 136.
BANNEKER, BENJAMIN, a negro astronomer,
died in Baltimore county, Md., in Oct., 1806, aged
70. His parents obtained their freedom, and sent
him to a common school, where he acquired a
great readiness in calculation. He assisted Ellicott
in laying out the city of Washington. Procuring
Mayer's tables, Ferguson's astronomy, and some
instruments, he made sets of observations for an
almanac for the years 1792 and 1793. He pub
lished a letter to the secretary of state, 1792.
BANNISTER, WILLIAM B., died at Newbury-
port July 1, 1853, aged 79. Born in Brookfield,
he was a graduate of Dartmouth in 1797 ; he was
a man of wealth, pious, and benevolent. In his
age he married Miss Grant, the eminent teacher
at Ipswich, \vho survived him. For some years
he was a member of the senate, and a trustee of
Amherst college and a visitor of the theological
seminary at Andover, and a worthy member of
various charitable institutions, to which he be
queathed about 40,000 dollars, most of his prop
erty.
BARBOUR, THOMAS, colonel, was a whig of
the Revolution and in 1769 was a member of the
house of burgesses of Virginia, which made the
first protest against the stamp act. He died at
Barboursville May 16, 1825, aged 90. For 60
years he had discharged the duties of a civil mag
istrate, and was many years the sheriff of the
county, enjoying in a high degree the confidence
of his fellow citizens. He was the father of
James Barbour, the secretary of war.
BARBOUR, PHILIP P., a judge of the Su
preme court, and a member of congress 1814-25,
and speaker, died at Washington Feb. 25, 1841,
aged about 60. He was a man of talents and
eloquence, and successful. His disease was ossi
fication of the heart.
BARBOUR, JOHN S., died in Ciilpepper co.,
Va., Jan. 12, 1855, aged 65 ; from 1823 to 1833 a
member of Congress, a man of ability and influ
ence.
BARCLAY, ROBERT, governor of East Jer
sey, the author of the " Apology for the Quakers,"
died in 1690, aged 41. lie was born in 1648 in
Scotland, and receiving his education at Paris he
at first imbibed the Catholic tenets, but afterwards
with his father embraced the principles of the
Quakers. His book was published in Latin in
1676, and translated by himself. He travelled
with William Penn in England and on the conti
nent. In 1682, when East Jersey was transferred
to Penn and eleven associates, he was appointed
the governor, though he never came to this coun
try; in which office lord Neil Campbell succeeded
him in 1685. His brother, John, a useful citizen
of Jersey, died at Amboy in 1731, leaving two
sons. His grandson, Alexander, was comptroller
of the customs in Philadelphia, and died in 1771.
— Jennison.
BARCLAY, HENRY, D. D., an Episcopal cler
gyman in New York, was a native of Albany,
and graduated at Yale college in 1734. In
England he received orders in the church, and
was appointed missionary to the Mohawk Indians.
Having served in this capacity for some years
with but little success, he was called to the city of
New York and appointed rector of Trinity church.
In this respectable station he continued till his
death, in 1765. The translation of the liturgy
into the Mohawk language, made under his di
rection and that of Rev. W. Andrews and J.
Ogilvic, was printed in 1769. Mr. Ogilvie suc
ceeded him both among the Indians and at New
York. — Life of Ritten. 245 ; Miller's Retros
pect, n. 356.
BARD, JOHN, a learned physician, died March
30, 1799, aged 83. He was born in Burlington,
N. J., Feb. 1, 1716. His father, Peter Bard, an
exile from France in consequence of the revoca
tion of the edict of Nantes, came to this country
in 1703 as a merchant ; he soon married the
daughter of Dr. Marmion, and was for many
years a member of the council and a judge of the
supreme court.
Mr. Bard received his early education under
the care of Mr. Annan of Philadelphia, a very
eminent teacher. About the age of fifteen he
was bound an apprentice for seven years to Dr.
Kearsly, a surgeon of unhappy temper and rigor
ous in the treatment of his pupils. Under his
thraldom the kindness of Mrs. Kearsly and the
friendship of Dr. Franklin beguiled his sorrows.
He engaged in business in 1737 and soon ac
quired a large share of practice and became much
respected. In 1743 he was induced by urgent ap
plications from New York to remove to that city
to supply the loss of several eminent physicians.
Here he continued till within a few months of his
death. In the year 1795, when the yellow fever
had put to flight a number of physicians, who
were in the meridian of life, the veteran Dr. Bard,
though verging towards his eightieth year, re
mained at his post. In May, 1798, he removed
to his estate at Hyde Park, near Poughkecpsie.
Here he continued in the enjoyment of perfect
health, till he felt a paralytic stroke, which in a
few days occasioned his death. He was a firm be
liever in the truth and excellency of the Christian
religion. In a letter to his son, Dr. Samuel Bard,
he said, " above all things suffer not yourself by
any company or example to depart, either in your
conversation or practice, from the highest rever
ence to God and your religion." In liis old age
60
BAUD.
BARD.
he was cheerful and remarkable for his gratitude
to his heavenly Father.
Dr. Bard was eminent in his profession, and his
practice was very extensive. Soon after the close
of the war with Great Britain, on the re-establish
ment of the medical society of the state of NCAV
York, he was elected its president, and he was
placed in the chair for six or seven successive
years. He possessed a singular ingenuity and
quickness in discriminating diseases ; yet he did
not presumptuously confide in his penetration,
but was remarkably particular in his inquiries into
the circumstances of the sick. Ever desirous of
removing the disorders, to which the human frame
is subject, his anxiety and attention were not
diminished, when called to visit the indigent, from
whom he could not expect compensation. His
conduct through his whole life was marked by the
strictest honor and integrity. In conversation he
was polite, affable, cheerful, and entertaining. To
his pupils he was not only an instructor, but a
father. In the early part of his life he devoted
much attention to polite learning, in which he
made great proficiency. He possessed a correct
and elegant taste, and wrote with uncommon ac
curacy and precision. He drew up an essay on
the pleurisy of Long Island in 1749, which paper
was not published ; a paper, inserted in the Lon
don Medical Observations; and several. papers on
the yellow fever and the evidence of its importa
tion, inserted in the American Medical Register.
In 1750 he assisted Dr. Middleton in the first re
corded dissection in America, that of Hcrmannus
Carroll, executed for murder. — Thacher's Med.
Biog. 96-103 ; M'Vickar's life of S. Sard.
BAUD, 'SAMUEL, M. D., son of the preceding,
died May 24, 1821, aged 79. He was born in
Philadelphia April 1, 1742. When a boy, in order
to screen a servant, who had broken his father's
cane, he falsely took the blame to himself. His
father praised his generosity, but severely pun
ished his falsehood, thus giving him a lesson on
the value of truth, which he was careful to trans
mit to his children. From his mother he received
early impressions in favor of religion. Residing
one summer, on account of ill health, in the fam
ily of Lieut.-Gov. Golden, his father's friend, he
acquired a taste for botany under the teaching of
Miss Golden. His skill in painting enabled him
to perpetuate the beauty of plants. While a stu
dent at Columbia college he formed the habit of
early rising, at daylight in summer and an hour
previous to it in winter, which he continued
through life. In Sept., 1761, he embarked for
England in order to obtain a thorough medical
education, and was absent, in France, England,
and Scotland, five years. His professional studies
were pursued with undiminished zeal, and espe
cially under the illustrious teachers in the school
of Edinburgh. Such was his skill in botany, that
he obtained the annual medal, given by Dr. Hope,
the professor, for the best collection of plants.
He received his degree at Edinburgh in May,
1765. On his return he found his father in debt
for his education, which had cost more than a
thousand pounds; he entered into partnership
with him and for three years drew notliing beyond
his expenses from the profits of the business,
amounting to £1500 a year. Having thus hon
orably discharged this debt, he married liis cousin
Mary Bard, a lady of beauty and accomplish
ments, to whom he had long been attached. He
formed this connection on a stock of £100, ob
serving, that " his wife's economy would double his
earnings."
Dr. Bard formed the plan of the medical school
of New York, which was established within a year
after his return. He was appointed professor of
the practice of physic. Medical degrees were
first conferred in 1769. In the same year the
hospital was founded by his exertions ; but the
building was burnt, causing a delay of the estab
lishment until 1791. In 1774 he delivered a
course of chemical lectures. In the time of the
war he left the city, placing his family in the'
house of his father at Hyde Park ; but, anxious to
provide for his wife and children, and to secure
his property, he the next year by permission
returned to New York, while the enemy had
possession of it, and engaged anew in his pro
fessional business, after being a considerable time
without a call and reduced to his last guinea.
After the return of peace Washington selected
him as his family physician. At this period he
lost four out of his six children by the scarlatina,
which prevailed in a virulent form, attended with
delirium. In consequence of the illness of Mrs.
Bard he withdrew from business for a year,
devoting himself to her. A prayer for her
recovery was found among his papers. In 1784
he returned to the city. At this period he devoted
5000 guineas to enable his father to free himself
from debt. At another time, when he had ac
cumulated 1500 guineas, he sent that sum to
England, but lost it by the failure of the banker.
On receiving the intelligence, he said to his wife,
" We are ruined ; " but she replied, " Never mind
the loss, we will soon make it up again." Having
formed the purpose to retire from business, he in
1795 took Dr. Hosack into partnership, and in
1798 removed to his seat in the neighborhood of
his father at Hyde Park. But, when the yellow
fever appeared, he resolutely returned to his post.
By his fearless exposure of himself he took the
disease, but nursed by his faithful wife he recovered.
The remaining twenty-three years of his life were
spent in happy retirement, surrounded by his
children and grandchildren, delighted with their
society, and finding much enjoyment also in
agricultural improvements, in contemplating the
BARKER.
BARLOW.
61
beauties of nature, and in the gratification of his
continued thirst for knowledge. For the benefit
of those, who with himself had engaged in rearing
merino sheep, he published "The Shepherd's
Guide." In 1813 he was appointed president of
the college of physicians and surgeons. His
discourses, on conferring degrees, were very im
pressive. He died of the pleurisy, and his wife
of the same disorder the preceding day; they
•were buried in one grave. It had long been
their wish to be thus united in death, and a re
markable dream of Mrs. Bard to tin's effect was
remembered.
Dr. Bard was attached to the Episcopal mode
of religious worship. The church at Hyde Park
was chiefly founded by him in 1811, and to
provide for the absence of its rector he procured
a license to act as lay reader at the age of seventy.
He regularly devoted a part of the morning to
religious reading and reflection. Of religion he
said to his son, William Bard, Esq., " This is our
stronghold, our castle and rock of defence, our
refuge in times of adversity, our comforter under
misfortune, our cheerful companion and friendly
monitor in the hours of gladness and prosperity."
The following is an extract from the form of
dailv devotion, used by himself and wife : " O
God! enlighten our understanding, that we may
comprehend thy will, strengthen our resolution to
obey thy commands, endow us with resignation
under thy dispensations, and fill our hearts with
love and gratitude for all thy benefits. Give unto
us, O Lord, whose lives thou hast continued to so
late a day, sincere and true repentance, and grant,
that as age advances upon us, our minds may be
more and more enlightened by the knowledge of
thy will, more resigned to thy dispensations, and
more invigorated with the resolution to obey thy
commands. Calm all our thoughts and fears;
give peace and quiet to our latter days ; and so
support us by thy grace through the weakness
and infirmities of age, that we may die in humble
hope and confidence of thy merciful pardon
through the merits of our Redeemer." He pub
lished a treatise de viribus opii, 17 Go; on angina
sufiocativa, repub. in vol. I. Amer. Phil. Soc. ; on
the use of cold in hemorrhage ; compendium of
midwifery, 1807, and subsequent editions; many
occasional addresses to public bodies ; and anni
versary discourses to medical students. — Life by
McVickar; Thaclier's Med. Diog. 103-143.
BARKER, JOHN, general, an officer of the
Revolution, died at Philadelphia April 3, 1818,
aged 72; he was sheriff, mayor, and a popular
orator.
BARLOW, JOEL, an eminent statesman and
poet, died in Poland Dec. 22, 1812, aged 08. He
was born at Reading, Conn., March 24, 1754,
and was the youngest of ten children. His
father, Samuel, a respectable fanner, died while he
was yet at school, leaving him property sufficient
only to defray the expenses of his education. In
1775 he was placed at Dartmouth college ; but he
very soon removed to Yale college, where he was
graduated in 1778, being ranked among the first
cf his class, for talents and learning, and particu
larly conspicuous for his skill in poetry. During
the vacations of the college he more than once
seized his musket, and repaired as a volunteer to
the camp, where four of his brothers were on duty.
He was present at several skirmishes, and is said
to have fought bravely in the battle of the Wlu'te
Plains.
After leaving college he engaged for a short
time in the study of the law ; but, being urged to
qualify himself for the office of chaplain, he
applied himself diligently to the study of theology,
and at the end of six weeks was licensed to
preach. He immediately joined the army and
discharged the duties of his new station until the
return of peace. As a preacher he was much
respected. But in the camp he continued to
cultivate his taste for poetry, writing patriotic
songs, and composing, in part, his Vision of Co
lumbus. He also published in 1780 an elegy on
the death of his early friend and patron, Titus
Hosmcr, and in 1781 a poem entitled "The
Prospect of Peace," which he had pronounced at
Commencement. About this time he married
Ruth Baldwin of New Haven, sister of Abraham
Baldwin.
In 1783, after the army was disbanded, he
returned to the study of the law at Hartford,
where for his immediate support he established a
weekly newspaper. The original articles, which
he inserted, gave it celebrity and a wide circula
tion. In 17 80 he was admitted to the bar and
in the same year published a corrected and
enlarged edition of Watts' version of the Psalms
with a collection of hymns. It was printed at
Hartford by "Barlow & Babcock." This work
was undertaken at the request of the General
.Association of the ministers of Connecticut, and
published by their recommendation. Many of
the psalms were altered so as to be adapted to
the American churches, several were Avritten
almost anew, and several, which had been
omitted by Dr. Watts, were supplied. Barlow
inserted also some original hymns. In 1787 he
published the Vision of Columbus, a large poem,
with flattering success. It was dedicated to Louis
XVI. Some of its interesting passages are said
to be imitations or copies of descriptions in the
Incas of Marmontel.
About this time he gave up his concern in the
weekly paper, and opened a book-shop, chiefly
with a view to the sale of his poem and of the
new edition of the psalms.. Having accomplished
these objects, he quitted the business and engaged
in the practice of the law. But in this profession
62
BARLOW.
BARLOW.
he was not successful. lie was concerned in
several occasional publications at Hartford, par
ticularly in the Anarchiad, a very singular poem,
which was projected by Dr. Hopkins, and which
had considerable political influence. In an oration
July 4, 1787, he earnestly recommended an
efficient general government, the new Constitution
being then under consideration of the convention
at Philadelphia. Urged by the necessity of pro
viding for his subsistence, he went to Europe in
1788 as the agent of the Scioto land company,
but ignorant of their fraudulent designs. From
England he crossed over to France, where he
made sale of some of the lands ; but in the
result he was left without any resource for his
maintenance, excepting his own talents and repu
tation. At this period his zeal for republicanism
induced him to take an active part in the French
Revolution, being particularly connected with the
Girondists, or the moderate party. In 1791 he
went to England, where he published the first
part of his " Advice to the Privileged Orders," a
work in which he reprobates the feudal system,
the national church establishments, the military
system, the administration of justice, and the
system of revenue and finance, as they exist in
the royal and aristocratical governments of Eu
rope. In Feb., 1792, he published the " Conspiracy
of Kings," a poem of about four hundred lines,
occasioned by the first coalition of the continental
sovereigns against France ; and in the autumn of
the same year a letter to the national convention
of France, in which he recommends among other
measures the abolition of the connection between
the government and the national church. These
publications brought him some profit as well as
fame. At the close of this year he was deputed
by the London constitutional society to present
their address to the French national convention,
which conferred upon him the rights of a French
citizen. Feari'ul of the resentment of the English
government, he now fixed his residence in France.
A deputation being soon sent to Savoy to organize
it as a department of the Republic, he accompanied
it with his friend, Gregoire, to Chamberry, the
capital, where he resided several months, and at
the request of his legislative friends wrote an
address to the people of Piedmont, inciting them
to throw off their allegiance to their king. At
this time he also composed " Hasty Pudding," a
mock didactic poem, the most popular of his
poetical productions. After his return to Paris he
translated Volney's Ruins, but his time was prin
cipally occupied by commercial speculations, in
which he acquired a large property. Shocked by
the atrocities of the Revolution, he took little
part in politics.
About the year 179o he went to the north of
Europe to accomplish some private business,
entrusted to him, and on lus return was appointed
by President Washington as consul at Algiers,
with powers to negotiate a treaty of peace with
the l)ey and redeem the American captives on the
coast of Barbary. He immediately left Paris, and
passing through Spain crossed over to Algiers.
He soon concluded a treaty and negotiated also a
treaty with Tripoli, rescuing many American
citizens from slavery. His humane exertions were
attended with great danger. In 1797 he resigned
his consulship and returned to Paris, where he
purchased the splendid hotel of the Count Cler-
mont de Tonnerc, in which he lived for some years
in a sumptuous manner.
On the occurrence of the rupture between his
native country and France, he published a letter
to the people of the United States on the meas
ures of Mr. Adams' administration. Tin's was
soon followed by a second part, containing specu
lations on various political subjects. At this
period he presented a memoir to the French
government, denouncing the whole system of
privateering, and contending for the right of
neutrals to trade in articles contraband of war.
In the spring of 180.3, having sold his real
estate in France, he returned to America after an
absence of nearly seventeen years. He purchased
a beautiful situation and house near Georgetown,
but within the limits of the city of Washington.
This place he called " Kalorama." He printed in
180G a prospectus of a national institution at
Washington, which should combine a university
with a learned society, together with a military
and naval academy and a school of fine arts. In
compliance with this project a bill was introduced
into the Senate, but it was not passed into a law.
In 1808 he published the Columbiad, a poem,
which had been the labor of half his life, in the
most splendid volume, which had ever issued from
the American press. It was adorned by excellent
engravings, executed in London, and was inscribed
to Robert Fulton, with whom he had long lived in
friendship and whom he regarded as his adopted
son. This work, though soon published in a
cheaper form, has never acquired much popularity.
As an epic poem it has great faults both in the
plan and the execution. It is justly exposed to
severe criticism for some extravagant and absurd
flights of fancy and for the many new-coined and
uncouth words which it contains. Its sentiments
also have been thought hostile to Christianity.
Gregoire addressed a letter to the author, re
proving him for placing the cross among the
symbols of fraud, folly, and error. Mr. Barlow in
his reply declared, that he was not an unbeliever,
or that he had not renounced Christianity, and
justified the description, which had offended
Gregoire, on the ground that he had been ac
customed to regard the cross not as the emblem
of Christianity itself but of its corruptions by
popery.
BARNARD.
BARNARD.
63
In 1811 he was nominated a minister plenipo
tentiary to the French government, but in his
attempt to negotiate a treaty of commerce and
indemnification for spoliations he was not success
ful. At length, in October, 1812, he was invited
to a conference with the emperor at Wilna. He
immediately set off, travelling day and night.
Overcome by fatigue, and exposed to sudden
changes from extreme cold to the excessive heat
o
of the small cottages of the Jews, which are the
only taverns in Poland, he was seized by a violent
inflammation of the lungs, which terminated his
life at Zarnowica, or Zarnowitch, an obscure
village near Cracow. His widow died in Wash
ington May 30, 1818, aged 62.
He was of an amiable disposition and domestic
habits, generally silent in mixed company, and
often absent in mind. His manners were grave
and dignified. If, as there is reason to conclude,
though once a preacher of the gospel he had
ceased to regard it as of Divine authority, and
died without the support of its glorious promises ;
there is no wise man, who will envy him the
possession of his worldly prosperity and distinc
tion acquired at the price of the abandonment
of the religion, which he once preached. As a
poet Mr. Barlow will hardly live in the memory
of future ages. His vision of Columbus, replete
with the scenes of the Revolution, acquired, not
withstanding its imperfections, great popularity as
a national, patriotic poem. But, when cast anew
into an epic form, with the attempt to give, by
means of a vision, an epic unity to a long scries of
unconnected actions, presenting philosophical spec
ulation rather than interesting narrative, the Co-
lumbiad sunk into neglect. Besides intellectual
power a poet must have a rich fancy, a refined
taste, and a heart of feeling. Mr. Barlow had
meditated a general history of the United States,
and made large collections of the necessary docu
ments.
He published several pieces in American Poems ;
prospect of peace, 1781 ; vision of Columbus, 1787 ;
the conspiracy of kings, London, 1796; advice to
privileged orders, in tw o parts ; a letter to the
national convention ; address to the people of
Piedmont; hasty pudding, a poem, 12mo. 1796;
the Columbiad, 4to. 1808, and 12mo. 1809; ora
tion on the fourth July, 1809. — London Monthly
Mag. 1798; Public 'Characters, 1806, p. 152-
180; Monthly Mag. and American Revieiv, I.
465-468; Analectic Mag. IV. 130-158; Speci
mens of American Poetry, II. 1-13.
BARNARD, JOHN, minister of Marblchead,
died Jan. 24, 1770, aged 88 years. He was born
in Boston Nov. 6, 1681. His parents were re
markable for their piety, and they took particular
care of his education. He was graduated at Har
vard college in 1700. In the former part of his
collemal course the sudden death of two of his
acquaintance impressed his mind and led him to
think of his own departure from this world; but
the impression was soon effaced. However, be
fore he left that institution he was brought to
repentance, and he resolved to yield himself to
the commands of God. In 1702 he united him
self to the north church in Boston under the
pastoral care of the Mathers. In 1705 he was
invited to settle at Yarmouth, but he declined
accepting the invitation. He was employed for
some time as an assistant to Dr. Colman. Being
fond of active life, he was appointed by Gov.
Dudley one of the chaplains, who accompanied
the army to Port Royal in 1707 to reduce that
fortress. In an attempt to take a plan of the
fort, a cannon ball was fired at him, that covered
him with dirt without doing him any injury. At
the solicitation of Capt. John Wentworth, he
sailed with him to Barbadoes and London. While
he was in this city the affair of Dr. Sachcverel
took place, of which he would often speak. He
became acquainted with some of the famous dis
senting ministers, and received some advantageous
offers of settlement if he would remain in Eng
land. He might have accompanied Lord Whar-
ton to Ireland as his chaplain, but he refused to
conform to the articles of the national church.
Soon after this he returned to seek a settlement
in his own country. The north church in Boston
was built for him and he preached the dedication
sermon May 23, 1714, expecting soon to be or
dained according to mutual agreement; but a
more popular candidate, a Mr. Webb, being in
vited at the request of Dr. Cotton Mather, the
people chose him for their pastor. Of this trans
action he could not speak with calmness to the
day of his. death. He was ordained minister of
Marblehead July 18, 1716, as colleague with Mr.
Cheever. In 1762 he received Mr. Whitwell as
his assistant. The last sermon, which he preached,
was delivered Jan. 8, 1769.
Mr. Barnard was eminent for his learning and
piety, and was famous among the divines of
America. During the latter part of his life, Avhen
he retained a vigor of mind and zeal uncommon
at so advanced an age, he was regarded as the
father of the churches. His form was remark
ably erect, and he never bent under the infirmi
ties of years. His countenance was grand, his
mien majestic, and there was a dignity in his
whole deportment. His presence restrained the
imprudence and folly of youth, and when the
aged saw him, they arose and stood up. He
added a knowledge of the Hebrew to his other
theological attainments ; he was well acquainted
Avith the mathematics; and he excelled in skill
for naval architecture. Several draughts of his,
the amusement of leisure hours, were commended
by master ship-builders. When he first went to
Marblehead and for some years afterwards, there
BARNARD.
BARNARD.
was not one trading vessel belonging to the town.
It was through his exertions, that a commercial
improvement soon took place. Having taken
great pains to learn " the mystery of the fish
trade," he directed the people to the best use,
•which they could make of the advantages of their
situation. A young man was first persuaded to
send a small cargo to Barbadoes, and his success
was so encouraging, that the people were soon
able in their own vessels to transport their fish to
the West Indies and Europe. In 1767 there
were thirty or forty vessels, belonging to the
town, employed in the foreign trade. When Mr.
Barnard first went to Marblehead, there was not
in the place so much as one proper carpenter,
nor mason, nor tailor, nor butcher.
By prudence in the management of his affairs
he acquired considerable property; but he gave
tithes of all he possessed. His charity was of a
kind, which is Avorthy of imitation. He was not
disposed to give much encouragement to common
beggars, but he sought out those objects of be
nevolent attention, who modestly hid their wants.
The poor were often fed by him, and the widow's
heart was gladdened, while they knew not where
to return thanks, except to the merciful Father
of the wretched. In one kind of charity he was
somewhat peculiar. He generally supported at
school two boys, whose parents were unable to
meet this expense. By his last will he gave 200
pounds to Harvard college. He left no children.
In his sickness, which terminated in his death, he
said with tears flowing from his eyes, " My very
soul bleeds, when I remember my sins ; but 1
trust I have sincerely repented, and that God will
accept me for Christ's sake. His righteousness is
my only dependence."
The publications of Mr. Barnard are numerous
and valuable. They show his theological knowl
edge, and his talents as a writer. His style is
plain, warm, and energetic. The doctrines, which
he enforces, are the same, which were embraced
by the fathers of New England. His autobiog
raphy is in Historical Collections, in. vol. v. He
published a sermon on the death of G. Cur-
win of Salem, 1717; on the death of his col
league, S. Cheever, 1724; history of the strange
adventures of Philip Ashton, 1725 ; two discourses
addressed to young persons, with one on the
earthquake, 1727 ; a volume of sermons on the
confirmation of the Christian religion, on com
pelling men to come in, and the saints' victory
and rewards, 1727 ; judgment, mercy, and faith,
1729; on the certainty of the birth of Christ,
1731 ; election sermon, 1734; call to parents and
children, 1737 ; convention sermon, 1738 ; zeal
for good works, 1742; election sermon, 174G;
the imperfection of the creature and the excel
lency of the divine commandment, in nine ser
mons, 1747; the mystery of the gospel in the
salvation of a sinner, in several discourses, 1750;
a version of the psalms, 1752 ; a proof of Jesus
Christ's being the Messiah, a Dudleian lecture,
the first that was published, 1756; the true di
vinity of Jesus Christ, 1761; a discourse at the
ordination of Mr. Whitwcll, a charge, and an ad
dress to the people, annexed to Mr. T. Barnard's
ordination sermon, 1762. A letter from Mr. Bar
nard to President Stiles, written in 1767, giving a
sketch of the eminent ministers of New England,
is published in the Mass. Hist. Coll. — WhitvielVs
Funeral Sermon ; Collections of Historical So
ciety, VIII. 66-69; X. 157, 167 ; Holmes, II. 525.
BARNARD, JOHN, minister of Andover, Mass.,
was the grandson of P'rancis Barnard of Hadley,
and the son of Thomas Barnard, the third min
ister of Andover, who was ordained colleague
with Francis Dane in 1682 and died Oct. 13, 1718.
The first minister of Andover was J. Woodbridge.
— Mr. Barnard was graduated in 1709 and suc
ceeding his father in the ministry died June 14,
1758, aged 68. During liis ministry Mr. Phillips
was the minister of the south parish. He was
succeeded by Mr. Symmes. His sons were min
isters of Salem and Haverhill. He published a
discourse on the earthquake ; to a society of
young men; on sinful mirth, 1728; on death of
A. Abbot, 1739 ; at ordination of T. Walker,
1731 ; election sermon, 1746.
BARNAHI), THOMAS, minister of Salem, the
son of the preceding, died Aug. 15, 1776, aged 62.
He was graduated at Harvard college in 1732
and ordained at Newbury Jan. 31, 1739. Dis
turbed by those, who called in question the cor
rectness of his sentiments, he was dismissed at his
own request, and afterwards studied law. He was
installed Sept. 17, 1755, as the minister of the
first church at Salem, and received Asa Dunbar
as his colleague in 1772 ; Dr. Prince succeeded
Mr. Dunbar in 1779. A paralytic affection im
paired his mental powers. He was regarded as a
semi-arian of Dr. Clarke's school, and as rather an
Arminian, than a Calvinist. As a preacher he
was destitute of animation and he was deficient
in perspicuity of style. He published discourses
at the ordination of E. Barnard, 1743; of Mr.
Bailey of Portsmouth, 1757; of W. Whitvell,
1762; before the society for encouraging industry,
1757 ; at the artillery election, 1758; at the elec
tion, 1763; Dudleian lecture, 1768; at the funeral
of P. Clarke, 1768. — Muss. Historical Collec
tions, vi. 273.
BARNARD, EDWARD, minister of Haverhill,
the brother of the preceding, was graduated in
1736, and ordained April 27, 1743, as the suc
cessor of John Brown. He died Jan. 26, 1774,
aged 53, and was succeeded by John Shaw. In
his last days a division sprung up in his society.
There were those, who accused him of not preach
ing the gospel. He was regarded as an Ar-
BARNARD.
BARNEY.
65
minian. Yet he was accustomed to preach, as he
said, " the fallen state of man, which gave rise to
the gospel dispensation, the fulness and freeness
of divine grace in Christ as the foundation of all
our hopes, the influence of the Spirit, the necessity
of regeneration, implying repentance towards
God and faith towards onr Lord Jesus Christ, the
necessity of practical religion, originating from
evangelical principles." He was an excellent
scholar and a highly esteemed preacher and min
ister. He published a poem on the death of
Abiel Abbot ; sermon at the ordination of II.
True, 1754; of G. Merrill, 1765; of T. Cary; at
the fast, 1764; at the election, 1766; at the con
vention, 1773. — SaltonstalVs Sketch of Haver-
hill in Historical Collections, n. s. IV. 143-146.
BARNARD, THOMAS, D. D., minister in Salem,
the son of T. Barnard, graduated at Harvard col
lege in 1766, and was ordained over the north
church Jan. 13, 1773. He died of the apoplexy
Oct. 1, 1814, aged 66. He published the follow
ing discourses : at the ordination of A. Bancroft,
1786; of I. Nichols, 1809; at the election, 1789;
at the convention, 1793 ; before the humane so
ciety, 1794; at the thanksgiving; Dudleian lec
ture, 1795; at thanksgiving, 1796; before a char
itable society, 1803 ; before the society for propa
gating the gospel among the Indians, 1806 ; be
fore the Bible society of Salem, 1814.
BARNARD, JEREMIAH, minister of Amherst,
N. H., died Jan. 15, 1834, aged 84.
BARNES, DAVID, D. D., minister of Scituate,
Mass., was born at Marlborough, graduated in
1752, and ordained Dec. 4, 1754. His predeces
sors in the second society since 1645 were Weth-
erell, Mighill, Lawson, Eelles, and Dorby. He
died April 27, 1811, aged 80 years. His wife was
the daughter of Col. G. Leonard. David L.
Barnes, a lawyer of Providence, appointed dis
trict judge of Rhode Island in 1801, and who
died Nov. 3, 1812, was lu's only son. — Dr. Barnes
is represented as remarkable for meekness. A
volume of his sermons was published with a bio
graphical sketch. He published an ordination
sermon, 1756 ; on the love of life and fear of
death, 1795 ; on the death of "Washington, 1800;
on the death of James Hawley, 1801 ; ordination
sermon, 1802; discourse on education, 1803. —
Mass. Historical Collections, s. s. iv. 237.
BARNES, DANIEL II., a distinguished con-
chologist, died in the meridian of life Oct. 27,
1818. He and Dr. Grificom originated and con
ducted with great reputation the high school of
New York. He was also a Baptist preacher.
Invited by Gen. Van Rcnsselacr to attend the
first public examination of the school established
by him at Troy, he proceeded to New Lebanon
and there preached on Sunday, the day before his
death, from the text, " Ye know not what shall
be on the morrow. For what is your life," &c.
9
On Monday, while riding between Nassau and
Troy, the driver being thrown from his seat as
the stage was rapidly descending a hill, Mr.
Barnes in his alarm jumped from the carriage and
fractured his skull. He died in a short time
after. Of the New York Lyceum of natural lu's-
tory he was an active member. He was a clas
sical scholar of high attainments, and of a most
estimable character as a man. He had presided
over several seminaries, and refused the presi
dency of the college at Washington city. He
was probably the first conchologist in the United
States. His learned communications on con-
chology were published in Silliman's journal, with
explanatory plates. Of his writings in that jour
nal the following is a catalogue : geological sec
tion of the Canaan mountain, v. 8-21 ; memoir
on the genera unio and alasmodonta, with nu
merous figures, VI. 107-127, 258-280 ; five species
of chiton, with figures, VII. 69-72 ; memoir on
batrachian animals and doubtful reptiles, XI. 269-
297, XIII. 66-70 ; on magnetic polarity, XIII. 70-
73 ; reclamation of unios, XIII. 358-364. — Silli
man's Journal, XV. 401.
BARNES, JOHN, died in Dudley in 1813, aged
92, a Revolutionary soldier.
BARNES, JOHN, a distinguished engineer, died
at Marseilles Sept, 24, 1852.
BARNES, LEWIS, a worthy, respected citizen
of Portsmouth, died June 27, 1856, aged 79. A
native of Gottenburg, with ancestors of rank, his
name was Ludwig Baarnhiclm. On coming to
this country at the age of 14, he lived at Salem
under the patronage of Hasket Derby, and changed
his name to Barnes. For more than fifty years
he lived in Portsmouth. At first he commanded
a ship, and then became a merchant ; and was
intelligent, charitable, and a blessing to the com
munity. His last hours were peaceful, full of
faith and hope. — His daughter married C. S.
Franklin of New York.
BARNEY, JOSHUA, commodore, a distinguished
commander, died Dec. 1, 1818, aged 59. He was
born in Baltimore July 6, 1759. In early life he
made several voyages. At the beginning of the
war he entered as master's mate in the sloop-of-
war Hornet, in which vessel he accompanied the
fleet of Commodore Hopkins, who in 1775 cap
tured New Providence. Promoted to the rank
of lieutenant for his bravery, he was captured in
the Sachem, but was soon exchanged. He was
twice afterwards captured. But in Oct., 1779, he
and his friend Capt. Robinson brought a valuable
prize into Philadelphia. In 1780 he married the
daughter of Alderman Bedford. In a lew weeks
afterwards, having all his fortune with him in
paper money, he was robbed of it, wliilc going to
Baltimore. Without mentioning his loss he soon
went to sea, but was captured and sent to Ply
mouth, England. From the Mill prison he es-
G6
BARON.
capcd, and returning to Pennsylvania, the state in
March, 1782, gave him the command of the
Ilyder Ally, a small ship of sixteen guns. In
this vessel, carrying four nine and twelve six
pounders, he captured, April 26th, after an action
of twenty-six minutes, the Gen. Monk of eighteen
guns, nine pounders, with the loss of four killed
and eleven wounded. The Gen. Monk lost thirty
killed and fifty-three wounded. In Sept., 1782,
he sailed in the command of the Gen. Monk,
which was bought by the United States, with
dispatches for Dr. Franklin at Paris ; he brought
back a valuable loan from the king of France in
chests of gold and barrels of silver. In 17% he
went to France with Mr. Monroe, deputed the
bearer of the American flag to the national con
vention, lie was induced to take the command
of a squadron in the French service, but resigned
in 1800 and returned to America. In 1813 he
was appointed to the command of the flotilla for
the defence of the Chesapeake. He participated
in the battle of Bladensburg Aug. 24, 1814, and
was wounded in the thigh by a ball, which was
never extracted. In May, 1815, he was sent on
a mission to Europe, and returned in Oct., and
resided on his farm at Elkridge. He visited the
western country in 1817. Having resolved to em
igrate to Kentucky, while on his journey he was
taken ill at Fittsburg and died there. He had
been forty-one years in public service and engaged
in twenty-six battles and one duel. He fought
with Lemuel Tailor in private combat Sept. 3,
1813, — observing the laws of honor but con
temning the laws of liis country and of God.
The want of moral courage, the courage to do
right in disregard of the opinion of those, who
judge wrong, the want of fixed virtuous principle,
is a great deficiency in any character. — Encyclo
paedia Americana.
BARON, ALEXANDER, M. D., was born in
Scotland in 1745, and received his medical educa
tion at Edinburgh. He arrived at Charleston,
S. C., and soon obtained extensive practice in part
nership successively with Drs. Milligan, Oliphant,
and S. and R. Wilson. He died Jan. 9, 1819,
aged 74. He had great reputation as a physi
cian. Possessing extensive knowledge and en
dowed with almost every attribute of genius, he
was a most agreeable and instructive companion.
His affability and kindness made him a favorite
with the younger members of the profession. —
Thaclier's Med. Biog. 144-146.
BARRES, JOSEPH FREDERIC WALLET, DES,
had the title of colonel, and was lieut.-gov. of
Cape Breton, and afterwards of Prince Edward
Island. He died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Oct. 22,
1804, aged 102 years. During the revolutionary
war he published in 1780, by order of Admiral
Howe, for the use of the British navy, valuable
charts of the coasts and harbors in the gulf of
BARRY.
St. Lawrence, of Nova Scotia, of New England,
of New York and southerly, compiled from sur
veys by Maj. Samuel Holland, surveyor-general.
These charts of DCS Barres were authentic and
useful surveys of these extensive coasts. All
the numerous islands in Casco bay and along the
whole coast of Maine are here described. A copy,
with the title of Atlantic Neptune, Vol. IL, is in
the library of Bowdoin college and another in
that of the American philosophical society at
Philadelphia.
BARRON, SAMUEL, a commodore in the navy,
commanded about the year 1798 the brig Au
gusta, equipped by the citizens of Norfolk in con
sequence of aggressions by the French. When a
fleet was sent to the Mediterranean in 1805 to
co-operate with Gen. Eaton in his operations
against Tripoli, Com. Barron had the command
of it ; but ill health induced him to transfer the
command to Capt. Rodgers. Eaton was indig
nant at the negotiation for peace conmmcnced by
Barron. On his return Barron felt keenly the
neglect of the government in not continuing him
in service. A few months before his death he
was made superintendent of the naval arsenal at
Gosport. He died of the apoplexy at Hampton,
Va., Oct. 29, 1810. In the private walks of life
he was greatly esteemed. — Norfolk Ledger;
Life of Eaton, 368.
BARRON, JAMES, commodore, died in Norfolk,
Apr. 21, 1851, aged 82. His father was commo
dore of the vessels of Virginia. He was lieuten
ant in 1798; in 1799 he went to the Mediterra
nean under the command of his brother Samuel.
In the ship Chesapeake he was compelled to
strike to the British frigate Leopard, after winch
he was not on sea duty.
BARRY, JOHN, first commodore in the Amer
ican navy, died Sept. 13, 1803, aged 58. He was
born in the county of Wcxford, Ireland, in 1745.
With an education adapted to his proposed ac
tive life upon the sea, he came to this country
about 1760, and was for years employed by the
most respectable merchants in the command of
vessels, having their unreserved confidence. In
Feb., 1776, congress appointed him to the com
mand of the brig Lexington of sixteen guns, and
he sailed on a successful cruise from Philadelphia.
From this vessel he was transferred to the Effing-
ham, a large frigate. Shut up by the ice in the
winter he joined the army as aid to Gen. Cadwal-
lader in the operations near Trenton. When
Philadelphia was in the hands of the enemy and
the American frigates were up the river, at White-
hill, Barry formed and executed the project of de
scending the river in boats to cut off the supplies of
the enemy. For this enterprise he received the
thanks of Washington. After his vessel was de
stroyed, he was appointed to the command of
the Raleigh of thirty-two guns, which a British
BARRY.
squadron compelled him to run on shore at Fox's
island in Penobscot bay. He next made several
voyages to the West Indies. In Feb., 1781, he
sailed in the frigate Alliance of thirty-six guns
from Boston for L'Orient, carrying Col. Laurens
on an embassy to the French court. On his re
turn, May 29, 1781, he fought the ship of war
Atlanta, of between twenty and thirty guns, and
her consort the brig Trepasa. After a severe ac
tion both struck their colors. Com. Barry was
dangerously wounded in the shoulder by a grape-
shot. He sailed again from Boston in the Alli
ance, and carried La Fayette and Count de
Noailles to France, and proceeded on a cruise.
Returning from Havana he fought a vessel of the
enemy of equal size, which escaped only by the
aid of her consorts. It is related, that Gen.
Howe at one period attempted to bribe him to
desert the cause of America by the promise of
fifteen thousand guineas and the command of a
British frigate, and that the offer was rejected
with disdain. Under the administration of Mr.
Adams he superintended the building at Philadel
phia of the frigate United States, of which he
retained the command, until she was laid up in
ordinary after the accession of Mr. Jefferson to
the executive chair. He died at Philadelphia of
an asthmatic affection. His person, above the
ordinary stature, was graceful and commanding.
His strongly marked countenance expressed the
qualities of his mind and virtues of lu's heart.
He possessed all the important qualities, requisite
in a naval commander. Though a rigid discipli
narian, his kindness and generosity secured the
attachment of his men. There was no desertion
from his ship. To the moral deportment of his
crew he scrupulously attended, and he enforced on
board a strict observance of divine worship. Ed
ucated in the habits of religion, he experienced
its comforts ; and he died in the faith of the gos
pel. — Portfolio ; American Naval Biography,
156-106.
BARRY, WILLIAM T., died at Liverpool, Aug.
30, 1835. A native of Kentucky, he had been a
senator, and postmaster-general, and minister to
Spain.
BARSTOW, JOHN, deacon, died in Canterbury,
Conn., Dec. 9, 1838, aged 85. A soldier, he -was
present at the surrender of Burgoync. In the
army he kept a journal. His services to the town
and church were very great. Many years super
intendent of the Sabbath school, in lu's old age he
taught the aged. In his sickness he sent word to
his friends to prepare to meet him in heaven. lie
was the father of Rev. Dr. B. of Keene.
BARTLETT, Josun, M. D., governor of New
Hampshire, died suddenly of a paralytic affection,
May 19, 1795, aged 65. He was the son of Ste
phen Bartlctt, and born in Amcsbury, Mass., in
BARTLETT.
67
Nov., 1729. After an imperfect medical education
he commenced the practice of physic at Kings
ton in 1750. During the prevalence of the angi
na maligna in 1754, lu's successful antiseptic prac
tice in the use of the Peruvian bark established
lu's fame. He also acted as a magistrate, and
Gov. Wrentworth gave him the command of a reg
iment, but at last deprived him of his commis
sions in Feb., 1775, in consequence of his being a
zealous whig. Being appointed a delegate to con
gress, his name was first called as representing
the most easterly province, on the vote of the de
claration of independence, and he boldly an
swered in the affirmative. In 1777, as medical
agent, he accompanied Stark to Bennington. In
1778 he withdrew from congress. He was ap
pointed chief justice of the court of common
pleas in 1779, a justice of the superior court in
1784, and chief justice in 1788. In 1790 he was
President of New Hampshire, chosen by the leg
islature, though Pickering and Joshua Wentwor th
received each many more of the votes of the peo
ple. In 1791 and 1792 he was chosen by the
people. He had nominated his rival, J. Picker
ing, chief justice. In 1793 he was elected the
first governor under the new form of government.
Of the medical society, established by his efforts
in 1791, he was the president. The duties of his
various offices were faithfully discharged. He
was a good physician, devoting most of his time
to his profession. His patriotism induced him to
make great sacrifices for the public good. By the
force of his talents, without much education, he
rose to his various high offices. His mind was
discriminating, his judgment sound, and in all
his dealings he was scrupulously just. In his last
years his health was impaired and after the loss
of his wife in 1789 his spirits greatly depressed.
His son, Dr. Ezra B., died at Ilaverhill, N. II.,
Dec. 6, 1848, aged 78. — ThacJier's Med. Biog.,
147-150 ; Eliot ; Goodrich's Lives.
BARTLETT, Josun, M. I)., was born in
jCharlestown in 1759, and studied physic with Dr.
I. Foster, who was chief surgeon of the military
hospital in the war of 1775, under whom he served
as surgeon's mate till 1780. He then went two
voyages as surgeon to ships of war. He settled
in Charlestown, where for many years he had
extensive practice. At length misfortune broke
down liis spirits and health, and life ceased to be
desired. After two years the apoplexy terminated
his life March 5, 1820. He had been a represen
tative, senator, and councillor. He delivered
many orations, medical, political and literary ; and
published various papers in the works of the
medical society and in the N. E. medical journal ;
address to free masons, 1797; discourse before
the Middlesex medical association ; progress of
medical science in Mass., 1810; history of
G8
BARTLETT.
BAKTON.
Charlestown, 1814; oration on the death of Dr.
John Warren, 1815. — Thacher's Med. Biog., 150,
151.
BARTLETT, JOSIAH, M. D., died at Stratham
April 14, 1838, aged 70. The son of Governor
Josiah B., he Avas a member of Congress in 1811-
13.
BARTLETT, JOHN, died at Marblehead in
Feb., 1840, aged GO, having been the pastor of the
Unitarian church thirty-seven years. He published
two discourses.
BARTLETT, ELISHA, M. D., died in Smith-
field, R. I., July 19, 1855, aged about 40. For
some years he had been unable to practice.
When residing at Lowell, he was its first mayor;
afterwards he was at the head of a medical college
at the West, whence in failing health he went back
to the old homestead in R. I.
BARTLETT, SHUBAEL, minister of Scantic,
descended from the little company, which landed
at Plymouth in 1620, and his character corres
ponded with that of his puritan ancestry. At the
age of twenty-two he entered Yale college, in
which he and one other were the only professors
of religion. lie graduated in 1800, and having
studied theology with Dr. Dwight was ordained at
East Windsor Feb. 12, 1804; and there he died
June 6, 1854, aged 76. A half-century sermon,
which he prepared, was read to his people by his
son-in-law, Rev. S. B. Brown, late a missionary to
Cliina. He was a faithful preacher, endowed
with a spirit of prayer. During his ministry five
hundred and twenty-four members were added to
his church. His descent was from several of the
Pilgrims at Plymouth.
BARTLETT, WILLIAM, a generous benefactor
of theological literature, was born in Newbury
Jan. 31, 1748, and died Feb. 8, 1841, aged 93.
He was one of the founders of the theological
seminary in Andover. He gave 25,000 dollars to
endow a professorship of sacred rhetoric; built
two professors' houses, one of the large halls, and
the chapel; paid the president's salary for five or
six years ; contributed largely to another professor
ship ; and bequeathed 50,000 dollars in his Mill.
BARTLETT, ZACCIIEUS, M. D., died at Ply
mouth in Dec., 1835, aged 70. A graduate of
Harvard in 1780, he was a member of the state
convention in 1820, and president of the pilgrim
society.
BARTLETT, ICIIABOD, a lawyer of distinction
in N. II., died at Portsmouth Oct. 19, 1853, aged
67. Born in Salisbury, he graduated at Dart
mouth in 1808, and lived first in Durham, then in
P. He Avas a member of Congress from 1823 to
1829.
BARTLETT, RICILUID, secretary of state of
IST. II., died at New York Oct. 23, 1837, aged 45.
BARTLETT, ELISIIA, died in Georgia, Vt., in
1855, aged 100, a soldier of the Revolution. His
father was Moses B., the minister of Chatham,
Conn., who graduated in 1730, and died in 1766.
BARTON, THOMAS, an Episcopal minister, M'as
a native of Ireland and educated at the university
of Dublin. In 1753 he married at Philadelphia
the sister of Mr. Rittenhouse, and the next year
Avas ordained in England. His talents and learn
ing M'ere of great service to his friend Mr. Ritten
house, who enjoyed few advantages of early edu
cation. From 1755 to 1759 he M'as a missionary
of a society in England and resided in Redding
township, York county. In 1758 he M'as a chap
lain in the expedition against Fort Du Qucsne,
and became acquainted M'ith Washington and
Mercer and other distinguished officers. He
resided in Lancaster as rector nearly twenty years.
Adhering to the royal government in the Revolu
tion and refusing to take a required oath, he M'cnt
in 1778 to New York, M'here he died May 25,
1780, aged 50 years. His eldest son, William
Barton of Lancaster, M-rote the memoirs of Ritten
house and a tract on free commerce ; he left seven
other children, one of M'hom was Prof. Barton.
His M'idow passed her last years in the house of
her nephew and niece, Dr. Samuel Bard and -wife.
Within a few days of their decease she also died,
aged 90. He published a sermon on Braddock's
defeat, 1755. — Mem. of Rittenhouse, 100, 112,
287, 441 ; Thacher's Med. Biog., 139.
BARTON, BENJAMIN SMITH, M. D., professor
in the university of Pennsylvania, died Dec. 19,
1815, aged 49. lie was the son of the Rev.
Mr. Barton of Lancaster, Penn., and was born
Feb. 10, 1766. His mother was the sister of
Rittenhouse, M'hose life M'as written by his brother,
William Barton. After spending several years in
study in Philadelphia, he went to Edinburgh and
London in 1786 to pursue his medical studies.
His medical degree he obtained at Gottingen. In
1789 he returned to Pliiladelphia and commenced
the practice of physic. In the same year he was
appointed professor of natural history and botany
in the college. He succeeded Dr. Griffiths as
professor of materia medica and Dr. Rush as
professor of the theory and practice of medicine.
Dr. Barton was distinguished by his talents and
professional attainments. He contributed much
to the progress of natural science, and his various
works evince a closeness of observation, an extent
of learning, and a comprehensiveness of mind,
honorable to his character. He was the first
American M'ho gave to his country an elementary
M'ork on botany. His publications are the folloAV-
ing: On the fascinating quality ascribed to the
rattlesnake, 1796; new vieAvs of the origin of the
tribes of America, 1797 ; collections toM-ards a
materia medica of the U. S., 1798; remarks on
the speech attributed by Jefferson to Logan, 1798;
medical physical journal, begun 1804, continued
several years ; eulogy on Dr. Priestley ; elements
BARTON.
of botany with thirty plates, 1804; also in two
vols. 40 plates, 1812; flora Virginica, 1812; an
tdition of Cullen's materia medica, 1808 ; account
of the Syren laccrtina ; observations on the oppos-
sum, 1813; collections on extinct animals, &c.,
1814; fragments of the natural history of Penn. ;
remedy for the bite of the rattlesnake ; on the
honey bee ; on the native country of the potato,
and other papers in the Am. Philos. Transactions.
— W. P. C. Barton's Biog. Sketch; Thacher's
Med. Biog., 151-153.
BARTON, WILLIAM, lieutenant-colonel, a patriot
of the Revolution, planned the capture of Maj.-
Gen. Prescott on Rhode Island, and executed the
project July 10, 1777. Information had been
received at Providence, that the general was to
sleep at Overing's house, four miles from Newport.
Barton went with a party of forty men, including
Capts. Adams and Phillips, in four whale-boats
from Warwick neck ten miles by water, landed
about half way from Newport to Bristol ferry, then
marched one mile to the general's quarters. On
reaching the chamber, at midnight, the sentry was
secured ; then a negro, called Prince, who accom
panied Barton, and who died at Plymouth 1821,
aged 78, dashed his head against the door and
knocked out a panel, so that Col. Barton rushed
in and surprised Prescott in bed, and carried him
off with his aid, Maj. William Barrington, who
jumped from the window in his shirt. He escaped
the guard boats and no alarm was given to the
enemy, until the party on their return had nearly
reached the main, when the firing of rockets was
in vain. For this exploit Congress presented him
with a sword and with a grant of land in Ver
mont. By the transfer of some of this land he
became entangled in the toils of the law and was
imprisoned in Vermont for years, until the visit to
this country in 1825 of La Fayette, who in his
munificence liberated his fellow soldier and re
stored the hoary veteran to his family. Col. Bar
ton was wounded in an action at Bristol ferry in
May, 1778. He died at Providence in Oct., 1831,
aged 84 years. — Amer. Rememb., 1777, 271, 361;
Mass. Hist. Coll., n., 107, 138; Heath, 122.
BARTON, CYRUS, editor of the Concord Re
porter, died Feb. 17, 1855. At the close of a
political speech near C. he fell and expired. He
was an associate with Isaac Hill in business.
BARTON, ROGER, died in Mississippi March
4, 1855, aged about 55; for fifteen years a Senator
of the U. S.
BARTRAM, Jonx, an eminent botanist, died
in Sept., 1777, aged 75. He was born at Marpole,
Chester county, Penn., in the year 1701. His
grandfather, Richard, accompanied William Penn
to this country in 1682. His father, John, re
moved to North Carolina and was killed by the
Whitoc Indians. He himself inherited the estate
BARTRAM.
69
of his uncle, Isaac, at Derby, a few miles from
Philadelphia.
This self-taught genius early discovered an
ardent desire for the acquisition of knowledge,
especially of botanical knowledge ; but the infant
state of the colony placed great obstacles in his
way. He however surmounted them by intense
application and the resources of his own mind.
By the assistance of respectable characters he
obtained the rudiments of the learned languages,
Avhich he studied with extraordinary success. So
earnest was he in the pursuit of learning, that he
could hardly spare time to eat ; and he might
often have been found with his victuals in one
hand and his book in the other. He acquired so
much knowledge of medicine and surgery, as to
administer great assistance to the indigent and
distressed in his neighborhood. He cultivated
the ground as the means of supporting a large
family ; but while ploughing or sowing his fields,
or mowing his meadows, he was still puslmig his
inquiries into the operations of nature.
He was the first American who conceived and
carried into effect the design of a botanic garden,
for the cultivation of American plants, as well as
of exotics. He purchased a fine situation on the
west bank of the Schuylkill about four miles below
Philadelphia, where he laid out with his own
hands a garden of five or six acres. He furnished
it with a variety of the most curious and beautiful
vegetables, collected in his excursions from Canada
to Florida. These excursions were made princi
pally in autumn, when his presence at home was
least demanded by his agricultural avocations.
His ardor in these pursuits was such, that at the
age of seventy he made a journey into East
Florida to explore its natural productions. His
travels among the Indians were frequently at
tended with danger and difficulty. By his means
the gardens of Europe were enriched with elegant
flowering shrubs, with plants and trees, collected
in different parts of our country from the shore
of Lake Ontario to the source of the River St.
Juan. He made such proficiency in his favorite
pursuit, that Linnaeus pronounced him " the
greatest natural botanist in the world." His
eminence in natural history attracted the esteem
of the most distinguished men in America and
Europe, and he corresponded with many of them.
He was a fellow of the Royal Society. By means
of the friendship of Sir Hans Sloane, Mr. Catesby,
Dr. Hill, Linnccus, and others, he was furnished
with books and apparatus, which he much needed,
and which greatly lessened the difficulties of his
situation. He in return sent them what was new
and curious in the productions of America. He
was elected a member of several of the most
eminent societies and academies abroad, and was
at length appointed American botanist to his
70
BAETRAM.
BASCOM.
Britannic majesty, George III., in which appoint
ment he continued till his death.
Mr. Bartram was an ingenious mechanic. The
stone house in which he lived, he built himself,
and several monuments of his skill remain in it.
He was often his own mason, carpenter, and black
smith, and generally made his own farming uten
sils. His stature was rather above the middle
size ; his body was erect and slender ; his com
plexion was sandy ; his countenance was cheerful,
though there was a solemnity in his air. His gen
tle manners corresponded with his amiable dispo
sition. He was modest and charitable ; a friend
to social order ; and an advocate for the abolition
of slavery. He gave freedom to a young African,
whom he had brought up ; but he in gratitude to
his master continued in his service. Though tem
perate, he kept a plentiful table ; and annually on
new year's day he made an entertainment, conse
crated to friendship and philosophy. Born and
educated in the society of Quakers, he professed
to be a worshipper of " God alone, the Almighty
Lord." He often read the scriptures, particularly
on Sundays. Of his children, John, his youngest
son, who succeeded him in his botanic garden,
died at Philadelphia Nov., 1812. In addition to
his other attainments he acquired some knowledge
of medicine and surgery, which rendered him use
ful to his neighbors. In his first efforts to make
a collection of American plants he was aided by
a liberal subscription of some scientific gentlemen
in Pliiladclphia. In 1737, Mr. Collinson wrote to
Col. Custis of Virginia, that Bartram was em
ployed by " a set of noblemen" at his recommen
dation ; and he added, " Be so kind as to give him
a little entertainment, and recommendation to a
friend or two of yours in the country, for he does
not value riding 50 or 100 miles to see a new
plant."
Mr. Bartram's communications in the British
Philosophical Transactions, vols. 41, 43, 46, 62,
are these : on the teeth of a rattlesnake ; on the
muscles and oyster banks of Perm. ; on clay wasp
nests ; on the great black wasp ; on the libella ;
account of an aurora borealis, observed Nov. 12,
1757. He published also observations on the
inhabitants, climate, soil, &c., in his travels to
lake Ontario, 4lh cd. 4to. Loud. 1751; descrip
tion of East Florida, with a journal, 4to. 1774.
— Miller, I. 515 ; II. 367 ; Life of Eittenlwuse,
375 ; Mem. Penns. Hist. Soc. I. 134 ; Barton's
Med. and Phys. Jour. I. 115-124.
BARTRAM, WILLIAM, a botanist, son of the
preceding, died July 22, 1823, aged 84. He was
born at the Botanic Garden, Kingsessing, Penns.,
in 1739. After living with a merchant in Phila
delphia six years, he went to North Carolina, en
gaged in mercantile pursuits ; but, attached to
the study of botany, he accompanied his father in
his journey to E. Florida. After residing for a
time on the river St. John's in Florida, he re
turned to Ins father's residence in 177 1. In April,
1773, at the request of Dr. Fothergill he pro
ceeded to Charleston in order to examine the nat
ural productions of Carolina, Georgia, and the
Floridas, and was thus employed nearly five years.
His collections and drawings were forwarded to
Dr. Fothergill. His account of his travels was
published in 1791. It is a delightful specimen of
the enthusiasm with which the lover of nature,
and particularly the botanist, surveys the beautiful
and wonderful productions which are scattered
over the face of the earth. Of himself Mr. Bar-
tram said, — " continually impelled by a restless
spirit of curiosity in pursuit of new productions
of nature, my chief happiness consisted in tracing
and admiring the infinite power, majesty, and per
fection of the great Almighty Creator, and in the
contemplation, that through divine aid and per
mission I might be instrumental in discovering
and introducing into my native country some orig
inal productions of nature, which might be useful
to society." Ilcposing in a grove of oranges,
palms, live oaks, and magnolias, in the midst of
beautiful flowers and singing birds, he cried out,
— " ye vigilant and most faithful servants of the
Most High ; ye, who worship the Creator morning,
noon, and eve, in simplicity of heart ! I haste to
join the universal anthem. My voice and heart
unite with yours in sincere homage to the great
Creator, the universal sovereign."
In 1782 he was elected professor of botany in
the university of Penns., but from ill health de
clined the appointment. Besides his discoveries
in botany, he prepared the most complete table of
American ornithology before the appearance of
the book of Wilson, whom he assisted in the com
mencement of that work. Such was his continued
love for botany, that he wrote a description of a
plant a few minutes before his death, which oc
curred suddenly by the rupture of a blood-vessel
in the lungs. He published Travels through N.
and S. Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida,
the Cherokee country, with observations on the
manners of the Indians, with plates, 8vo. Phil.,
1731; the same, London, 1792; and translated
into French by Benoist, entitled Voyage, &c., 2
vols.; Paris, 1801; an account of J. Bartram ;
anecdotes of a crow ; description of Ccrthia ; on
the site of Bristol. — Enc. Amer. ; Barton's Med.
Jour. I. i. 89-95 ; I. ii. 103.
BASCOM, II. B., D. I)., bishop of the Meth
odist church, died in Louisville on liis return from
St. Louis to Kentucky Sept. 9, 1850, aged about
56. He was born in Western New York ; in
1828 was president of Madison college, the sec
ond Methodist college in the U. S. In 1842, he
was chosen president of Transylvania university,
Ky. In 1849 he was elected bishop. He was a
pulpit orator of great power, though not of good
BASS.
taste. He delighted in strong epithets and high
flown metaphors. A volume of his sermons was
published in 1849. He published inaugural ad
dress, 1828.
BASS, EDWARD, D. D., first bishop of Massa
chusetts, was born at Dorchester Nov. 23, 172G,
and graduated at Harvard college in 1744. For
several years he was the teacher of a school.
From 1747 to 17*51 he resided at Cambridge, pur
suing In's theological studies, and occasionally
preaching. In 1752, at the request of the Episco
pal society in Newburyport, he went to England
for orders, and was ordained May 24, by bishop
Sherlock. In 1796 he was elected by the conven
tion of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Mas
sachusetts to the office of bishop, and was conse
crated May 7, 1797, by the bishops of Pennsylva
nia, New York, and Maryland. Afterwards the
Episcopal churches in Rhode Island elected him
their bishop, and in 1803 a convention of the
churches in NCAV Hampshire put themselves under
his jurisdiction. He died Sept. 10, 1803, humble
and resigned. He was a sound divine, a critical
scholar, an accomplished gentleman, and an exem
plary Christian. — Mass. Hist. Coll., IX. 188.
BASSETT, RICHARD, governor of Delaware,
was a member of the old congress in 1787, and
was appointed a senator under the new constitu
tion. He was governor, after Mr. Bedford, from
1798 to 1801, when he was placed by Mr. Adams
on the bench of the federal judiciary. The repeal
of the act, constituting the courts, displaced him
from his office in 1802. He had practised law
for many years with reputation and was a gentle
man of fortune. His daughter married Mr. Bay
ard. He died in Sept., 1815.
BASSETT, AMOS, D. D., died in Cornwall in
1828, aged 44. A native of Derby, he graduated
in 1784, and was the minister of Hebron from
about 1793 to 1820, and was then the head of the
Mission school at Cornwall. His voice and man
ner in preaching were extremely solemn. He
was perhaps gloom}- and hypochondriacal ; some
times keen and severe. Seeing some men of in
fluence, whom he deemed anti-patriotic and anti-
christian, following in the funeral procession of a
very wicked man, he said, — "if it had been the
devil liimsclf, they would have followed him, only
they would have chosen to follow him alive." He
published election sermon, 1807 ; and before a
missionary society ; he wrote a reply of the con
sociation to A. Abbot.
BATES, BARNABAS, died at Boston Oct. 11,
1853, aged 66. A native of England, he was a
Baptist minister in R. I., then a Unitarian. He
was collector of Bristol, and connected with the
post office. As a zealous advocate of cheap post
age he deserves public remembrance.
BATES, ISAAC C., died in Washington, a sen
ator, March 10, 1845, aged 65. Born in Cran-
BAXTER.
71
villc, he graduated at Yale in 1802, and settled as
a lawyer in Northampton. For eight years he
was a member of the house of representatives,
and afterwards of the senate, rendering important
public services. At his funeral in Washington,
Mr. Tuston delivered an eloquent sermon on the
happiness of heaven, described as " light." He
delivered an able speech, costing much effort,
against the admission of Texas into the Union ;
and in a few days afterwards died. His printed
addresses and speeches are specimens of logical
and beautiful writing.
BATES, JOSHUA, D. D., president of Middle-
bury college, died in Dudley Jan. 14, 1854, aged
77. Born at Cohasset, he graduated at Cam
bridge in 1800 ; was settled as a minister in Ded-
ham in 1803; was chosen president in 1818 and
continued at Middlebury twenty-one years, till
1840, when he resigned. In 1843 he was settled
at Dudley, where he toiled during ten years of a
green old age. He was distinguished as a scholar,
was open-hearted and of a manly character,
highly esteemed and useful. Dr. Sprague preached
a sermon on his death.
He published Reminiscences of Rev. John Cod-
man, making a volume with W. Allen's life of
J. C. ; two sermons on intemperance, 1813 ; a
volume of sermons ; on the death of T. Prentiss,
1814 ; at ordination of J. Thompson, 1804 ; R.
Hurlburt and F. Burt, 1817 ; Ira Ingraham, 1821;
J. Steel, 1828 ; inaugural address, 1818 ; two
sermons to missionary societies.
BATTELL, SARAII, the widow of Joseph B.,
died at Norfolk, Conn., Sept. 23, 1854, aged 75,
the daughter of Rev. A. Robbins. She was one
of the women of excellent Christian character
and well-known benevolence, who by their virtues
adorn our community.
BAXTER, JOSEPH, minister of Medford, Mass.,
was the son of Lieut. John Baxter, of Braintrce,
who died in 1719, aged 80, and grandson of
Gregory Baxter, a settler of B. in 1632, who was
a, relative of Richard Baxter, of England. lie
was born in 1676, graduated in 1693, and or
dained April 21, 1697. When Gov. Shute had a
conference with the Indians at Georgetown, on
Arrousic Island, in Aug., 1717, he presented to
them a Mr. Baxter as a protestant missionary,
who was probably Mr. Joseph B. ; but through
the influence of the Jesuit Halle he was rejected.
He had a correspondence in Latin with Ralle, and
the Jesuit accused him of the want of scholarship.
Gov. Shute in his letter replied, that the main
qualification in a missionary to the barbarous In
dians was not " to be an exact scholar as to the
Latin tongue," but to bring them from darkness
to the light of the gospel, and, " under the influ
ence of the divine Spirit to translate them from
the power of Satan, who has had an usurped pos
session of these parts of the world for so many
72
BAXTER.
ages, to the kingdom of the Son of God." Mr.
Baxter died May 2, 1745. His son, Joseph, a
physician, died of the small pox. He published
the election sermon, 1727 ; sermons to two socie
ties of young men ; and sermons on the danger
of security, 1729. — Mass. Hist. Coll. v. 115;
Coll. N. II. Hist. Soc. II. 245 ; Farmer.
BAXTER, GEORGE A., 1). I)., died in Vir
ginia March 16, 1841, aged 77; professor of the
ology in Union theological seminary, Prince
Edward county. He was previously president of
Washington college, Lexington. He was one of
the most eminent and respected of the Presbyte
rian ministers of Virginia.
BAY, ELIHU H., died at Charleston in 1839,
aged 85. He published law reports.
BAYARD, JOHN, a friend to his country, and
an eminent Christian, was born Aug. 11, 1738, on
Bohemia manor in Cecil county, Maryland. His
father died without a will, and being the eldest
son, he became entitled by the laws of Maryland
to the whole real estate. Such, however, was his
affection for his twin brother, younger than him
self, that no sooner had he reached the age of
manhood, than he conveyed to him half the estate.
After receiving an academical education under Dr.
Fin ley, he was put into the counting-house of
Mr. John Rhea, a merchant of Philadelphia. It
was here, that the seeds of grace began first to
take root, and to give promise of those fruits of
righteousness, which afterwards abounded. He
early became a communicant of the Presbyterian
church under the charge of Gilbert Tennent.
Some years after his marriage he was chosen a
ruling elder, and he filled this place with zeal and
reputation. Mr. Whitfield, while on his visits
to America, became intimately acquainted with
Mr. Bayard, and was much attached to him.
They made several tours together. In 1770, Mr.
Bayard lost his only brother, Dr. James A. Bay
ard, a man of promising talents, of prudence and
skill, of a most amiable disposition and growing
reputation. The violence of his sorrow at first
produced an illness, which confined him to his bed
for several days. By degrees it subsided into a
tender melancholy, which for years after would
steal across his mind, and tinge his hours of do
mestic intercourse and solitary devotion with
pensive sadness. When his brother's widow died,
he adopted the children, and educated them as his
own. One of them was an eminent statesman.
At the commencement of the Revolutionary
war he took a decided part in favor of his country.
At the head of the second battalion of the Phila
delphia militia he marched to the assistance of
Washington, and was present at the battle of
Trenton. He was a member of the council of
safety, and for many years speaker of the legisla
ture. In 1777, when there was a report that
BAYARD.
Col. Bayard's house had been destroyed by the
British army, and that his servant, who had been
intrusted with his personal property, had gone off
with it to the enemy, Mr. William Bell, who had
served his apprenticeship with Col. Bayard, and
accumulated several thousand pounds, insisted
that his patron should receive one half of his
estate. This generous offer was not accepted, as
the report was without foundation. Reiterated
afflictions induced a deep depression of mind,
and for some time he was no longer relieved by
the avocations of business. In 1785, however, he
was appointed a member of the old congress, then
sitting in New York, but in the following year he
was left out of the delegation. In 1788 he re
moved to New Brunswick, where he was mayor
of the city, judge of the court of common pleas,
and a ruling elder of the church. Here he died
Jan. 7, 1807, aged 68.
At his last hour he was not left in darkness.
That Redeemer, whom he had served with zeal,
was with him to support him and give him the
victory. During his last illness he spoke much
of his brother, and one night, awaking from sleep,
exclaimed, "My dear brother, I shall soon be
with you." He addressed his two sons, " My dear
children, you see me just at the close of life.
Death has no terrors to me. What now is all
the world to me ? I would not exchange my hope
in Christ for ten thousand worlds. I once enter
tained some doubts of his Divinity ; but, blessed
be God, these doubts were soon removed by in
quiry and reflection. From that time my hope
of acceptance with God has rested on his merits
and atonement. Out of Christ, God is a consum
ing fire." As he approached nearer the grave,
he said, " I shall soon be at rest ; I shall soon be
with my God. O glorious hope ! Blessed rest !
HOAV precious are the promises of the gospel ! It
is the support of my soul in my last moments."
While sitting up, supported by his two daughters,
holding one of his sons by the hand, and looking
intently in his face, he said, " My Christian brother !''
Then turning to his daughters he continued, " You
are my Christian sisters. Soon will our present
ties be dissolved, but more glorious bonds
lie could say no more, but his looks and arms,
directed towards heaven, expressed everything.
He frequently commended himself to the blessed
Redeemer, confident of his love; and the last
words, which escaped from his dying lips, were,
" Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus ! " — Evang.
Litclliyencer, I. 1-7, 49-57.
BAYARD, JAMES A., a distinguished states
man, died Aug. 6, 1815, aged 48. lie was the
son of Dr. J. A. Bayard, and was born in Phila
delphia in 1767. On the death of his father he
was received into the family of his uncle, John
Bayard, and was graduated at Princeton college
BAYARD.
BAYLEY.
73
in 1784. After studying law at Philadelphia with
Gen. Reed and Mr. Ingcrsoll, he commenced the
practice in Delaware. In Oct., 1796, he was
elected a member, of Congress. In the party con
tests of the day he was a distinguished supporter
of the federal administration. In the memorable
contest in the house concerning the election of
president in 1801, Jefferson and Burr having an
equal number of the electoral votes, he directed
the course, which issued in the election of Mr.
Jefferson. Among the debaters on the repeal of
the judiciary bill in March, 1802, he was the
ablest advocate of the system, which was over
thrown. From the house he was transferred to
the senate in 1804, and was again elected for six
years from March, 1805, and also from March,
1811. He opposed the declaration of war in
1812. After the commencement of the war, the
mediation of Russia being offered, he was selected
by Mr. Madison as a commissioner with Mr. Gal-
latin to negotiate a peace with Great Britain, and
sailed from Philadelphia for St. Petersburg May
9, 1813. The absence of the emperor preventing
the transaction of any business, he proceeded to
Holland by land in Jan., 1814. He lent his able
assistance in the negotiation of the peace at
Ghent in this year, and afterwards made a jour
ney to Paris, where he was apprized of his ap
pointment as envoy to the court of St. Petersburg.
This he declined, stating, " that he had no wish
to serve the administration, except when his ser
vices were necessary for the good of his country."
Yet he proposed to co-operate in forming a com
mercial treaty with Great Britain. An alarming
illness, however, constrained him to return to the
United States. He arrived in June and died at
Wilmington. His wife, the daughter of Gov.
Basset, and several children, survived him. Mr.
Bavard was an ingenious reasoner and an accom
plished orator. His fine countenance and manly
person recommended his eloquent words. There
were few of his contemporaries of higher political
distinction. But his race of worldly eminence
was soon run. — His speech on the foreign inter
course bill was published 1798; and his speech
on the repeal of the judiciary in a vol. of the
speeches, 1802. — Biog' Amer. 50; Encyc.Amer.
BAYARD, SAMUEL, judge, died at Princeton
N. J., May 12, 1840, aged 75. He was a judge
of the common pleas, a most upright, respected,
and esteemed man.
BAYLEY, MATTHIAS, died about the year 1789
at Jones' creek, a branch of the Pedee, in North
Carolina, aged 136 years. He was baptized at
the age of 134. His eyesight remained good,
and his strength was very remarkable, till his
death. — American Museum, vil. 206.
BAYLEY, RICHARD, an eminent physician of
New York, died Aug. 17, 1801, aged 56. He
was bom at Fairfield, Conn., in the year 1745.
10
From his mother's being of French descent and
his parents' residence among the French Protes
tant emigrants at New Rochclle, N. Y., he became
early familiar with the French language. He
studied physic with Dr. Charlton, whose sister he
married. In 1769 or 1770 he attended the Lon
don lectures and hospitals. Returning in 1772
he commenced practice with Dr. Charlton in New
York. His attention in 1774 was drawn to the
croup, which prevailed, and which men of high
character, as Dr. Bard, had fatally treated as the
putrid sore throat. He had seen a child perish
in thirty-six hours under the use of stimulants and
antiseptics. His dissections confirmed him in his
views ; and they were adopted afterwards by his
friend, Michaelis, the chief of the Hessian medical
staff in New York, the author of a treatise " De
angina polyposa."
In the autumn of 1775 he revisited England in
order to make further improvement under Hunter,
and spent the winter in dissections and study. In
the spring of 1776 he returned in the capacity of
surgeon in the English army under Howe. This
was a measure of mistaken prudence, in order to
provide for his wife and children. In the fall he
proceeded with the fleet to Newport ; but incapable
of enduring this separation from his wife, he
resigned and returned to New York in the spring
of 1777 just before her death. His influence was
now beneficially exerted in saving the property of
Ms absent fellow-citizens. In 1781 his letter to
Hunter on the croup was published, in which he
recommended bleeding, blisters to the throat,
antimony, calomel, and enemata. He said, there
was no fear of putresccncy, unless there were
ulcers. To Baylcy the public is indebted for the
present active treatment of the croup. In 1787
he delivered lectures on surgery, and his son-in-law,
Dr. Wright Post, lectured on anatomy, in the
edifice since converted into the New York hospital.
In 1788 " the doctors' mob," in consequence of
the imprudence of some students, broke into the
building and destroyed Bayley's valuable anatomi-
"cal cabinet. In 1792 he was elected professor of
anatomy at Columbia college; but in 1793 he
took the department of surgery, in which he was
very skilful. About 1795 he was appointed health
officer to the port. During the prevalence of the
yellow fever he fearlessly attended upon the sick
and investigated the disease. In 1797 he pub
lished his essay on that fever, maintaining that it
had a local origin and was not contagious, lie
also published in 1798 a series of letters on the
subject. By contagion he meant a specific poison,
as in small pox. He allowed, that the fever in
certain circumstances was infectious. No nurse
or attendant in the hospitals had t alien the
disease, yet it might be conveyed in clothing and
in other ways. Hence the importance of cleanli
ness and ventilation. The state quarantine laws
74
BAYLIES.
originated with him; the total interdiction of
commerce with the West Indies had by some been
contemplated. In Aug., 1821, an Irish emigrant
ship, with ship fever, arrived. lie found the crew
and passengers and baggage huddled in one un-
ventilated apartment, contrary to his orders.
Entering it only a moment, a deadly sickness at
the stomach and intense pain in the head seized
him, and on the seventh day he expired. He is
represented as in temper fiery, invincible in his
dislikes, inflexible in attachment, of perfect integ
rity, gentlemanly, and chivalrously honorable.
He married in 1778 Charlotte Amelia, daughter
of Andrew Barclay, a merchant of New York.
His writings have been mentioned : on the croup,
1781; essay on the yellow fever, 1797; letters on
the same, 1798. — Thacher's Med. Biog., 156-
168.
BAYLIES, WILLIAM, M. D., died at Dighton,
Mass., June 17, 1826, aged 82. lie was gradu
ated at Harvard college in 1760, and was a member
of the provincial congress in 1775, and often a
member of the council of the State.
BAYLIES, HODIJAII, judge, died at Dighton
April 26, 1843, aged 86. A graduate of Harvard
in 1777, he was aid to Gen. Lincoln, also to
Washington. He was collector of customs, and
judge of probate from 1810 until he was 81. He
possessed a Christian character, and shared largely
in the public confidence.
BAYLIES, FREDERIC, died in Edgartown Oct.,
1836, for twenty years a useful teacher of the
Ladians on Martha's Vineyard and in 11. I. ; an
exemplary, worthy man, doing much for Sunday
schools and the cause of temperance.
BAYLIES, NICHOLAS, judge, died at Lyndon,
Vt, Aug. 17, 1847, aged 75. He was a graduate
of Dartmouth in 1794, and practised law in
Woodstock and Montpelier. His wife was Mary
Itipley, daughter of Prof. Riplcy and grand
daughter of President E. Whcclock. He pub
lished some law books.
BAYLIES, FRANCIS, died at Taunton, Oct. 28,
1852, aged 68. For several terms he was a mem
ber of congress. The only electoral vote for Jack
son as president, from New England, Avas given
by him. Soon afterwards he was appointed min
ister to Brazil, but was quickly recalled. He
published a history of the old colony of Plymouth
in 2 vols., 1828.
BAYNAM, WILLIAM, a surgeon, the son of
Dr. John Baynham of Caroline county, Va., was
born in 1749, and after studying with Dr. Walker
was sent to London in 1769, where he made great
proficiency in anatomy and surgery. He was for
years an assistant demonstrator to Mr. Else,
professor in St. Thomas' hospital. After residing
sixteen years in England, he returned to this coun
try, and settled in Essex about 1785. He died
Dec. 8, 1814, aged 66 years. He performed
BEACH.
many remarkable surgical operations. As an
anatomist he had no superior. The best prepara
tions in the museum of Clinc and Cooper at Lon
don were made by him. Various papers by Mr.
B. were published in the medical journals. —
TJiacJier's Mcd. Biog., 168-173; JV. Y. Med.
Journal, I.; Phil. Journal, IV.
BEACH, JOHN, an Episcopal clergyman and
writer, was probably a descendant of Ilichard
Beach, who lived in New Haven and had a son,
John, born in 1639. He was graduated at Yale
college in 1721, and was for several years a Con
gregational minister at Newtown. Through his
acquaintance with Dr. Johnson, he was induced to
embrace the Episcopal form of worship. In 1732
he went to England for orders, and on his return
was employed as an Episcopalian missionary at
Heading and Newtown. After the Declaration of
Independence, Congress ordered the ministers to
pray for the commonwealth and not for the king.
Mr. Beach, who retained his loyalty, chose to pray
as usual for his majesty, and was in consequence
handled roughly by the wliigs. He died March
19, 1782.
He published an appeal to the unprejudiced, in
answer to a sermon of Dickinson, 1737 ; also,
about the year 1745, a sermon on Itomans 6 : 23,
entitled, a sermon shewing that eternal life is
God's free gift, bestowed upon men according to
their moral behavior. In this he opposed with
much zeal some of the Calvinistic doctrines,
contained in the articles of the church which he
had joined. Jonathan Dickinson wrote remarks
upon it the following year, in his vindication of
God's sovereignty and His universal love to the
souls of men reconciled, in the form of a dialogue,
1747. He wrote also a reply to Dickinson's
second vindication. Mr. Beach was a bold and
distinguished advocate of those doctrines, which
are denominated Arminian. Whatever may be
said of his argument in his dispute with Dickinson,
he evidently yields to his antagonist in gentleness
and civility of manner. Another controversy, in
which he engaged, had respect to Episcopacy.
He published in 17-19, in answer to Hobart's first
address, a calm and dispassionate vindication of
the professors of the church of England, to which
Dr. Johnson wrote a preface and Mr. Caner an
appendix. He seems to have had high notions
of the necessity of Episcopal ordination. His
other publications are, the duty of loving our
enemies, 1738; an inquiry into the state of the
dead, 1755; a continuation of the vindication of
the professors, &c., 1756 ; the inquiry of the young
man in the gospel ; a sermon on the death of
Dr. Johnson, 1772. — Chandler's Life of John
son, 62, 126.
BEACH, ABRAHAM, D. D., an Episcopal min
ister, was born at Cheshire, Conn., Sept. 9, 1740,
and graduated at Yale college in 1757. The
BEACH.
bishop of London ordained him in June, 1767, as
a priest for New Jersey. During seventeen years,
including the period of the Revolution, he tran
quilly discharged the duties of his office at Xe\v
Brunswick. Alter the peace, he was called to
New York as an assistant minister of Trinity
church, where he remained about thirty years,
and then retired in 1813 to his farm on the Rari-
tan to pass the evening of his life. He died Sept.
11, 1828, aged 88 years. His daughter, Maria,
and his son-in-law, Abiel Carter, an Episcopal
minister, died at Savannah, Oct. 28, and Nov. 1,
1827. His dignified person, expressive counte
nance, and lively feelings rendered his old age
interesting to his acquaintance. He was respected
and honored in his failing years. A sermon of
his, on the hearing of the word, is in American
Preacher, in. He published a funeral sermon on
Dr. Chandler, 1790. — Episcopal Watchman.
BEACH, EBEXEZER S., died at Rochester, N. Y.,
March 14, 1850, aged 65. He was educated and
very successful in business. In furnishing stores
for the army he made much money ; for his flour
milling operations he was extensively known.
BEACH, SAMUEL, M. D., of Bridgeport, died,
killed by the railroad disaster at Norwalk bridge
May 6, 1853. He was among the forty-five per
sons killed. He received his medical degree at
Yale in 1826; — besides being an eminent physi
cian he was an excellent Christian.
BEADLE, WILLIAM, a deist, was born near
London, and came to this country with a small
quantity of goods. After residing at New York,
Stratford, and Derby, he removed to Fairfield,
where he married a Miss Lathrop of Plymouth,
Mass. In 1772 he transplanted himself to
Wethersfield, where he sustained the character of
a fair dealer. In the depreciation of the paper
currency, he, through some error of judgment,
thought he was still bound to sell his goods at
the old prices, as though the continental money
had retained its nominal value. In the decay of
his property he became melancholy. For years
he meditated the destruction of his family. At
last, Dec. 11, 1782, he murdered with an axe and
a knife his wife and children and then shot him
self with a pistol. He was aged 52 ; his wife 32 ;
and the eldest child 15 years. The jury of in
quest pronounced him to be of a sound mind ;
and the indignant inhabitants dragged his body,
uncollined, with the bloody knife tied to it, on a
sled to the river, and " buried it, as they would
have buried the carcase of a beast," and as the
masonic oaths speak of burying a mason, mur
dered for his faithlessness to masonry, " between
high and low water mark." He was a man of
good sense, of gentlemanly conduct, and a hospi
table disposition. His wife was very pleasing in
person, mind, and manners. — It appears from his
writings, that he was a deist, and that pride was
BEAN.
75
the cause of his crimes. He was unwilling to
submit to the evils of poverty or to receive aid
from others, and unwilling to leave his family
without the means of distinction. Yet was he
worth 300 pounds sterling. He endeavored to
convince himself, that he had a right to kill his
children, because they were his ; as for his wife,
he relied on the authority of a dream for a right
to murder her. His wife, in consequence of his
carrying the implements of death into his bed
chamber, had dreamed, that she and the children
were exposed in cofiins in the street. This solved
his doubts. As to killing himself he had no
qualms. From such horrible crimes what is there
to restrain that class of men, who reject the
scriptures, or who, while professing to believe
them, deny that there will be a future judgment,
and maintain, that death will translate the blood
stained wretch to heaven? — Dwiylifs Travels,
I. 229.
BEAN, JOSEPH, minister of Wrentham, died
Dec. 12, 1784, aged 66. He was born in Boston
March 7, 1718, of pious parents, who devoted him
to God. Having learned a trade, he commenced
business at Cambridge ; but in 1741 the preach
ing of Whitefield and Tennent and of his own
minister, Appleton, was the means of subduing
his love of the world and of rendering him wise
unto salvation. He now made a profession of
religion and commenced a consistent course of
piety and beneficence, in which he continued
through life. He joined a religious society of
young men, who met once a week ; and seized
every opportunity for conversing with others, es
pecially with the young on their spiritual concerns.
In 1742 he deemed it his duty to abandon his
trade and to seek an education, that he might
preach the gospel. The study of the languages
was wearisome ; but he persevered, and was
gi'aduated at Harvard College in 1748, and or
dained the third minister of Wrentham Nov. 24,
1750. Mr. Bean was an eminently pious and
faithful minister, and is worthy of honorable re
membrance. From his diary it appears, that he
usually spent one or two hours, morning and
evening, in reading the Bible and secret devotion ;
also the afternoons of Saturday, when his dis
courses were prepared for the Sabbath ; and the
days of the birth of himself and children, as well
as other days. He was truly humble, and watch
ful against all the excitements of pride. His
conscience was peculiarly susceptible. His heart
wras tender and benevolent. Such was his con
stant intercourse with heaven, that hundreds of
times, when riding in the performance of paro
chial duty, he had dismounted in a retired place
to pour out his heart to God. When he had pre
pared a sermon, he would take it in his hand and
kneel down to implore a blessing on it. Nothing
was permitted to divert him from preaching faith-
76
BEASLEY.
BEECHER.
fully the solemn truths of the gospel. He loved
his work and his people, and they loved and
honored him. Such a life will doubtless obtain
the honor, which cometh from God ; and in the
day of judgment many such obscure men, whom
the world knew not, will be exalted far above a
multitude of learned doctors in divinity, and cele
brated orators, and lofty dignitaries, whose names
once resounded through the earth. He published
a century sermon Oct. 26, 1773. — Panoplist, v.
481-188.
BEASLEY, NATHANIEL, general, died in Knox
co., Ohio, in 1835, aged 84. He was an early
settler, intelligent and useful.
BEASLEY, FREDERICK, D. D., died in Eliza-
bethtown, N. J., Nov. 2, 1845, aged 68, formerly
provost of the university of Pennsylvania. lie
wrote on Episcopacy and on moral and meta
physical subjects.
BEATTY, CHARLES, a missionary for many
years at Neshaminy, Penns., was appointed about
1761 an agent to procure contributions to a fund
for the benefit of the Presbyterian clergy, their
widows, and children. He died at Barbadoes,
whither he had gone to obtain benefactions for
the college of New Jersey, Aug. 13, 1772. He
was highly respected for his private virtues and
for his public toils in the cause of learning, charity,
and religion. He was a missionary from the
Presbvterian church to the Indians, from about
1740 to 1765. In one of his tours Mr. Duffield
accompanied him. He published a journal of a
tour of two months to promote religion among
the frontier inhabitants of Pennsylvania, 8vo.
London, 1768. — Jennison ; Brainerd's Life,
149-155.
BEATTY, JOHN, M. D., general, the son of
the preceding, was a native of Bucks county,
Penn., and was graduated at Princeton in 1769.
After studying medicine with Dr. Rush, he en
tered the army as a soldier. Reaching the rank
of Lieut.-Col. he in 1776 fell into the hands of
the enemy at the capture of fort Washington, and
suffered a long and rigorous imprisonment. In
1779 he succeeded Elias Boudinot as commissary
general of prisoners. After the war he settled at
Princeton as a physician, and was also a member
of the State legislature, and in 1793 of congress.
For ten years he was secretary of the state of
New Jersey, succeeding in 1795 Samuel W. Stock
ton. For eleven years he was president of the
bank of Trenton, where he died April 30, 1826,
aged 77. For many years he was a ruling elder
in the church. — Thacher's Med. Biog. 173,174.
BEAUMONT, WILLIAM, doctor, died in St.
Louis April 25, 1853, aged 57. His account of
experiments with St. Martin, the Canadian, were
published in 1833 and 1847.
BECK, GEORGE, a painter, was a native of Eng
land, and appointed professor of mathematics hi
the royal academy at Woolwich in 1776, but
missed the office by his neglect. After coming
to this country in 1795, he was employed in paint
ing by Mr. Hamilton of the Woodlands, near
Philadelphia. His last days were spent in Lex
ington, Ky., where he died Dec. 14, 1812, aged
63. Besides his skill in mathematics and paint
ing, he had a taste for poetry, and wrote original
pieces, besides translating Anacrcon, and much
of Homer, Virgil, and Horace. He published
observations on the comet, 1812. — Jennison.
BECK, JOHN BRODHEAD, M. D., died at
Rhinebeck, April 9, 1851, aged 57. He was em
inent as a physician in New York ; professor of
materia medica and botany in 1826, and then of
medical jurisprudence.
BECK, T. ROMEYN, M. D., died at Albany
Nov., 1855, aged 64. He was born at Schenec-
tady Aug. 11, 1791, the grandson of Rev. Derick
Romeyn, a professor of theology in the Dutch
church ; graduated at Union in 1807, and received
the degree of M. D. from the New York college
of physicians in 1811, delivering a dissertation on
insanity, which was published. He practised
physic in Albany; in 1815 he was professor of
the institutes and lecturer on medical jurispru
dence in the western district. In 1817 he was
appointed principal of the Albany academy ; in
1829 president of the medical society, his ad
dresses in which station were published in the
society's transactions. In 1854 he was president
of the lunatic asylum. For many years he
edited the American journal of insanity. He
published in 1853 his medical jurisprudence, a
work unequalled in that branch.
BECK, LEWIS C., professor, died in Albany
April 21, 1853, aged 53. lie was born and edu
cated at Schencctady. For many years he was
the professor of chemistry and natural science at
Rutgers college, and subsequently professor of
chemistry in the Albany medical college. He
published an account of the salt springs at Salina,
1826; manual of chemistry, 1831.
BEDELL, GREGORY T., D. D., an Episcopal
minister, died at Philadelphia Aug. 30, 1834; a
man of learning. He published Cause of the
Greeks, 1827.
BEDFORD, GUNNING, governor of Delaware,
was a patriot of the Revolution. He was chosen
governor in 1796. He was afterwards appointed
the district judge of the court of the United
States; and died at Wilmington, in March, 1812.
BEECIIER, PHILEMON, general, an early set
tler of Ohio, emigrated from Litchficld, Conn.,
and died at Lancaster, Ohio, Nov. 30, 1839, aged
63. He was a member of congress in 1817-1821
and in 1823-1829; in his politics a federalist.
He was an able lawyer and advocate, respected
for his talents and his exemplary Christian virtues.
BEECIIER, GEORGE, died July 1, 1843, aged
BEEKMAN.
about 3~), a graduate of Yale in 1828. He was a
son of Dr. L. Beecher, and a minister, first at
Batavia, and then three years at Chillicothe. He
went into his garden with a double-barrelled gun
to shoot birds : after one shot he put his mouth
to the barrel, to blow into it, as was supposed,
and the gun went off and killed him.
BEEKMAN, CORNELIA, an admirable woman,
a patriot of the Ilcvolution, died in Christian peace
near Tarrytown March 14, 1847, aged 94 : her
husband, Gerard G. B., died in 1822, aged 7G.
She was the daughter of Pierre Van Cortlandt
and Joanna Livingston. Married at 17, she lived
in Bcekman street, N. Y. ; then, during the war,
at Peekskill ; afterwards at the manor house of
Philipsburgh, or castle Philipse, near Tarrytown,
watered by the Pocanteco or Mill river. Her
brother, Gen. P. Van Cortlandt, and her sister,
Mrs. Van llensselaer, survived her ; also her
daughter, Mrs. De Peyster, and her son, Dr. S. D.
Bcekman.
BEERS, NATHAN, died at New Haven Feb. 10,
1849, aged 96. After serving in the Ilevolutionary
war, he engaged in mercantile business, and was
long the steward of Yale college. He was a
deacon of the north church, distinguished for
courtesy, integrity, and piety.
BELCHER, SAMUEL, first minister of that
parish in Xcwbury, Mass., which is called New-
bury Xewtown, was graduated at Harvard college
in 16.39. After preaching some time at the Isle
of Shoals, he was ordained at Ncwbury Nov. 30,
1698; and died at Ipswich, in 1714, aged 74.
He was a good scholar, a judicious divine, and a
holy and humble man. lie published an election
sermon, 1707. — Coll. Hist. Soc. x. 168 ; Farmer.
BELCHER, JONATHAN, governor of Massachu
setts and New Jersey, was the son of Andrew
Belcher of Cambridge, one of the council of the
province, and a gentleman of large estate, who
died in 1717, and grandson of Andrew B., who
lived in Cambridge in 1646, and who received in
1652 a license for an inn, granting him liberty
" to sell beer and bread for entertainment of
strangers and the good of the town." He was
born in Jan., 1681. As the hopes of the family
rested on him, his father carefully superintended
his education. He was graduated at Harvard
college in 1699. While a member of this insti
tution his open and pleasant conversation, joined
with his manly and generous conduct, conciliated
the esteem of all his acquaintance. Not long
after the termination of his collegiate course he
visited Europe, that he might enrich his mind
by his observations upon the various manners and
characters of men, and might return, furnished
with that useful knowledge, which is gained by
intercourse with the world.
During an absence of six years from his native
country, he was preserved from those follies into
BELCHER.
77
which inexperienced youth are frequently drawn,
and he even maintained a constant regard to that
holy religion, of which he had early made a pro
fession. He was every where treated with the
greatest respect. The acquaintance, which he
formed with the princess Sophia and her son, af
terwards king George II., laid the foundation of
his future honors. After his return from his
travels, he lived in Boston as a merchant with
great reputation. He was chosen a member of
the council, and the general assembly sent him as
an agent of the province to the British court in
the year 1729. Hutchinson relates, that just be
fore he obtained tlu's appointment, he suddenly
abandoned the party of Gov. Shute and his meas
ures, to which he had been attached, and went
over to the other side. This sudden change of
sides is no rare occurrence among politicians.
After the death of Gov. Burnet, he was ap
pointed by his majesty to the government of Mas
sachusetts and New Hampshire, in 1730. In this
station he continued eleven years. His style of
living was elegant and splendid, and he was dis
tinguished for hospitality. By the depreciation of
the currency his salary was much diminished in
value, but he disdained any unwarrantable means
of enriching himself, though apparently just and
sanctioned by his predecessors in office. He had
been one of the principal merchants of New Eng
land ; but he quitted his business on his accession
to the chair of the first magistrate. Having a
high sense of the digniiy of his commission, he
was determined to support it even at the expense
of his private fortune. Frank and sincere, he
was extremely liberal in his censures, both in con
versation and letters. This imprudence in a pub
lic officer gained him enemies, who were deter
mined on revenge. He also assumed some
authority, which had not been exercised before,
though he did not exceed his commission. These
causes of complaint, together with a controversy
respecting a fixed salary, which had been trans
mitted to him from his predecessors, and his
opposition to the land bank company, finally occa
sioned his removal. His enemies were so inveter
ate, and so regardless of justice and truth, that,
as they were unable to find real grounds for im
peaching his integrity, they forged letters for the
purpose of his ruin. They accused him of being
a friend of the land bank, when he was its deter
mined enemy. The leading men of New Hamp
shire, who wished for a distinct government, were
hostile to him ; and his resistance to a proposed
new emission of paper bills also created him ene
mies. On being superseded, he repaired to court,
where he vindicated his character and conduct,
and exposed the base designs of his enemies. He
was restored to the royal favor, and was prom
ised the first vacant government in America.
This vacancy occurred in the province of New
78
BELCIIER.
BELDEX.
Jersey, where he arrived in 1747, and where he
spent the remaining years of his life. In this
province his memory has been held in deserved
respect.
When he first arrived in this province, he found
it in the utmost confusion by tumults and riotous
disorders, which had for some time prevailed.
This circumstance, joined to the unhappy contro
versy between the two branches of the legislature,
rendered the first part of his administration pe
culiarly difficult ; but l;y bis firm and prudent j
measures he surmounted the difficulties of his sit
uation, lie steadily pursued the interest of the
province, endeavoring to distinguish and promote
men of worth without partiality. lie enlarged
the charter of Princeton college, and was its
chief patron and benefactor. Even under the
growing infirmities of age, he applied himself
with his accustomed assiduity and diligence to the
high duties of his office. lie died at Elizabeth-
town, Aug. 31, 1757, aged 70 years; His body
was brought to Cambridge, Mass., where it was
entombed. His eldest son, Andrew, a member of
the council, died at Milton before the Revolution.
In the opinion of Dr. Elliot he did not inherit the
spirit of his father.
Gov. Belcher possessed uncommon gracefulness
of person and dignity of deportment. He obeyed
the royal instructions on the one hand and exhib
ited a real regard to the liberties and happiness
of the people on the other. He was distin
guished by his unshaken, integrity, by his zeal for
justice, and care to have it equally distributed.
Neither the claims of interest nor the solicitations
of friends could move him from what appeared to
be lu's duty. He seems to have possessed, in ad
dition to his other accomplishments, that piety,
whose lustre is eternal. His religion was not a
mere formal thing, which he received from tra
dition, or professed in conformity to the custom
of the country, in which he lived; but it im
pressed his heart, and governed his life. He had
such views of the majesty and holiness of God,
of the strictness and purity of the divine law, and
of his own unworthiness and iniquity, as made
him disclaim all dependence on his own right
eousness, and led him to place his whole hope for
salvation on the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who appeared to liim an all-sufficient and glori
ous Saviour. He expressed the humblest sense
of his own character and the most exalted views
of the rich, free, and glorious grace offered in the
gospel to sinners. His faith worked by love, and
produced the genuine fruits of obedience. It ex
hibited itself in a life of piety and devotion, of
meekness and humility, of justice, '.ruth, and be
nevolence. He searched the holy scriptures with
the greatest diligence and delight. In his family
he maintained the worship of God, liimself read
ing the volume of truth, and addressing in prayer
the Majesty of heaven and of earth, as long as
his health and strength would possibly admit.
In the hours of retirement he held intercourse
with heaven, carefully redeeming time from the
business of this world to attend to the more im
portant concerns of another. Though there was
nothing ostentatious in his religion, yet he was
not ashamed to avow his attachment to the gospel
of Christ, even when he exposed himself to
ridicule and censure. When Mr. Whitfield was
at Boston in the year 1740, he treated that elo
quent itinerant with the greatest respect. He
even followed him as far as Worcester, and re
quested him to continue his faithful instructions
and pungent addresses to the conscience, desiring
him to spare neither ministers nor rulers. He
was indeed deeply interested in the progress of
holiness and religion. As he approached the
termination of his life, he often expressed his
desire to depart and to enter the world of glory.
— Burr's Funeral Sermon; Hutchinson, II. 367-
397; Holmes, II. 78; Smith's N. J., 437-438;
Belknap's N. H.; Whitfield's Jour, for 1743;
Marshall, I. 299; Minot, I. 61; Elliot.
BELCIIER, JONATHAN, chief justice of Xova
Scotia, was the second son of the preceding, and
was graduated at Harvard college in 1728. He
studied law at the temple in London and gained
some distinction at the bar in England. At the
settlement of Chebucto, afterwards called Hali
fax, in honor of one of the king's ministers, he
proceeded to that place, and being in 1760 senior
councillor, on the death of Gov. Lawrence he
was appointed lieutenant-governor, in which office
he was succeeded by Col. Wilmot in 1763. In
1761 he received his appointment of chief justice ;
in the same year, as commander in chief, he made
a treaty with the Mirhnichi, Jcdiuk, and I'ogi-
nouch, Mickmack tribes of Indians. He died at
Halifax March, 1776, aged 60. He was a man
of prudence and integrity, and a friend of New
England. In 17^6 he married at Boston the sis
ter of Jcrem. Allen, sheriff of Suffolk ; on her
death in 1771 Mr. Secomb published a discourse,
and her kinsman, Dr. Byles, a monody. Andrew
Belcher, his son, was a distinguished citizen of
Halifax and a member of the council in 1801.
A daughter married Dr. Timothy L. Jennison of
Cambridge, Mass. — Mass. Hist. Coll. V. 102 ;
Jennison ; Eliot.
BELDEX, JOSHUA, physician of Weathersfield,
was the son of Rev. Joshua Belden of that town,
who reached the age of 90 years. After graduating
at Yale college in 1787, he studied physic with
Dr. L. Hopkins. Besides his useful toils as a
physician, he was employed in various offices of
public trust. He was a zealous supporter of all
charitable and religious institutions. At the acre
BELKXAP.
of 50 lie fell a victim suddenly to the spotted
fever, June 6,1818. — Thacher's Medical Bioy-
raphy,
BELKXAP, JEREMY, 1). D., minister in Bos
ton, and eminent as a writer, died June 20, 1798,
aired 54. He was born June 4, 1744, and was a
descendant of Joseph Belknap, who lived in Bos
ton in 10,38. He received the rudiments of learn
ing in the grammar school of the celebrated Mr.
Lovel, and was graduated at Harvard college in
1762. He exhibited, at this early period, such
marks of genius and taste, and such talents in
•writing and conversation, as to excite the most
pleasing hopes of his future usefulness and dis
tinction. Having upon his mind deep impressions
of the truths of religion, he now applied himself
to the study of theology, and he was ordained
pastor of the church in Dover, N. H., Feb. 18.
1707. Here he passed near twenty years of his
life, with the esteem and affection of his flock, and
respected by the first characters of the state. He
was persuaded by them to compile his history of
New Hampshire, which gained liim a high repu
tation. In 1786 he Avas dismissed from his peo
ple. The Presbyterian church in Boston becom
ing vacant by the removal of Mr. Annan, and
having changed its establishment from the Pres-
bvterian to the Congregational form, soon invited
him to become its pastor. He was accordingly
installed April 4, 1787. Here he passed the re
mainder of his days, discharging the duties of
his pastoral office, exploring various fields of liter
ature, and giving his efficient support to every
useful and benevolent institution. After being
subject to frequent returns of ill health he was
suddenly seized by a fatal paralytic affection.
Dr. Belknap in his preaching did not possess
the graces of elocution, nor did he aim at splen
did diction ; but presented his thoughts in plain
and perspicuous language, that all might under
stand him. While he lived in Boston, he avoided
controversial subjects, dwelling chiefly upon the
practical views of the gospel. His sermons were
filled with a rich variety of observations on human
life and manners, lie was peculiarly careful in
giving religious instruction to young children, that
their feet might be early guided in the way of
Hie. In the afternoon preceding his death, he
was engaged in catechizing the youth of his soci
ety. In the various relations of life his conduct
was exemplary. He was a member of many lit
erary and humane societies, whose interests he
essentially promoted. Wherever he could be of
any service, he freely devoted his time and talents.
He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts
historical society. He had been taught the value
of an association, whose duty it should be to col
lect and preserve manuscripts and bring together
the materials for illustrating the history of our
BELKXAP.
79
country; and he had the happiness of seeing
such an institution incorporated in 1794.
Dr. Belknap gained a high reputation as a wri
ter ; but he is more remarkable for the patience
and accuracy of his historical researches, than for
elegance of style. His deficiency in natural sci
ence, as manifested in his history of New Hamp
shire, is rendered more prominent by the rapid
progress of natural history since his death. His
Foresters is not only a description of American
manners, but a work of humor and wit, which
went into a second edition. Before the llevolu-
tion he wrote much in lavor of freedom and his
country, and he afterwards gave to the public
many fruits of his labors and researches. His
last and most interesting work, his American Biog
raphy, he did not live to complete. He was a
decided advocate of our republican forms of gov
ernment, and ever was a warm friend of the con
stitution of the United States, which he consid
ered the bulwark of our national security and
happiness. He was earnest in his wishes and
prayers for the government of his country, and in
critical periods took an open and unequivocal,
and, as far as professional and private duties al
lowed, an active part.
The following extract from some lines, found
among his papers, expresses his choice with regard
to the manner of his death ; and the event corre
sponded with his wishes.
When faith and patience, hope and love
Have made us meet for heaveu above,
How blest the privilege to rise,
Snatched in a moment to the skies !
Unconscious, to resign our breath.
Nor taste the bitterness of death.
Dr. Belknap published a sermon on military
duty, 1772 ; a serious address to a parishioner
upon the neglect of public worship ; a sermon on
Jesus Christ, the only foundation ; election ser
mon, 1784; history of New Hampshire, the first
volume in 1784, the second in 1791, and the third
in 1792 ; a sermon at the ordination of Jedediah
Morse, 1789; a discourse in 1792, on the com
pletion of the third century from Columbus' dis
covery of America ; dissertations upon the char
acter and resurrection of Christ, 12mo. ; collec
tion of psalms and hymns, 1795; convention
sermon, 1796 ; a sermon on the national fast,
May 9, 1793 ; American biography, first volume
in 1794, the second in 1798; the foresters, an
American tale, being a sequel to the history of
John Bull, the clothier, 12mo. He published
also several essays upon the African trade, upon
civil and religious liberty, upon the state and set
tlement of this country, in periodical papers ; in
the Columbian magazine printed in Philadelphia ;
in the Boston magazine, 1784; in the historical
collections; and in newspapers. Two of his
80
BELKNAP.
BELLAMY.
sermons on the institution and observation of the
Sabbath were published in 1801. — Mass. Hist.
Coll. VI. X.-XVlll. ; Columbian Cent., June 25,
1798; Polyantlws,l. 1-13.
BELKNAP, EZEKIEL, died in Atkinson, N. II.,
Jan. 5, 1836, aged 100 years and 40 days; an
officer in the Revolutionary army. He was the
son of Moses, who died in 1813, aged 99, and
grandson of Hannah B., who died aged 107.
BELL, JOHN, a distinguished citizen of New
Hampshire, of great judgment, decision, and in
tegrity, died at Londonderry, Nov. 30, 1825, aged
95 years. His father, John, was an early settler
of that town. During the llevolutionary war he
was a leading member of the senate. From an
early age he was a professor of religion. Two of
his sons, Samuel and John, were governors of
New Hampshire ; the former was a senator of
the United States. His grandson, John Bell, son
of Samuel, a physician of great promise, died at
Grand Caillon, La., Nov. 27, 1830 aged 30.
BELL, SAMUEL, governor, died in Chester,
N. II., Dec. 23, 1850, aged 81 ; a graduate of Dart
mouth, a judge of the superior court from 1816
to 1819, governor from 1819 to 1823, and a sen
ator in congress from 1823 to 1835.
BELL, JOHN, governor of N. II. in 1828, died
at Chester, March 22, 1836.
BELLAMONT, RICHARD, earl of, governor
of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hamp
shire, was appointed to these offices early in May,
1095, but did not arrive at New York until May,
1698. He had to struggle with many difficulties,
for the people were divided, the treasury was un-
supplicd, and the fortifications were out of repair.
Notwithstanding the care of government, the
pirates, who in time of peace made great depre
dations upon Spanish ships and settlements in
America, were frequently in the sound, and were
supplied with provisions by the inhabitants of
Long Island. The belief, that large quantities of
money were hid by these pirates along the coast,
led to many a fruitless search ; and thus the nat
ural credulity of the human mind and the desire
of sudden wealth were suitably punished. The
Earl of Bellamont remained in the province of
New York about a year. He arrived at Boston
May 26, 1699, and in Massachusetts he was re
ceived with the greatest respect, as it was a new
thing to sec a nobleman at the head of the gov
ernment. Twenty companies of soldiers and a
vast concourse of people met " his lordship and
countess " on his arrival. " There were all man
ner of expressions of joy, and, to end all, firework
and good drink at night." He in return took ev
ery method to ingratiate himself with the people.
He was condescending, affable, and courteous
upon all occasions. Though a churchman, he at
tended the weekly lecUre in Boston with the gen
eral court, who always adjourned for the purpose.
For the preachers he professed the greatest
regard. By his wise conduct he obtained a lar
ger sum as a salary and as a gratuity, than any of
his predecessors or successors. Though he re
mained but fourteen months, the grants made to
him were one thousand eight hundred and sev
enty-five pounds sterling. His time was much
taken up in securing the pirates and their effects,
to accomplish which was a principal reason of his
appointment. During his administration Capt.
Kidd was seized, and sent to England for trial.
Soon after the session of the general court in
May, 1700, he returned to New York, where he
died March 5, 1701. He had made himself very
popular in his governments. He was a nobleman
of polite manners, a friend to the revolution,
which excited so much joy in New England, and
a favorite of king William. Hutchinson, who
was himself not unskilled in the arts of popu
larity, seems to consider his regard to religion as
pretended, and represents him as preferring for
his associates in private the less precise part of
the country. As the earl was once going from
the lecture to his house with a great crowd around
him, he passed by one Bullivant, an apothecary,
and a man of the liberal cast, who was standing
at his shop-door loitering. " Doctor," said the
earl with an audible voice, " you have lost a pre
cious sermon to-day." Bullivant whispered to one
of his companions, who stood by him, " if I could
have got as much by being there, as his lordship
will, I would have been there too." However,
there seems to be no reason to distrust the sin
cerity of Bellamont. The dissipation of his early
years caused afterwards a deep regret. It is said,
that while residing at fort George, N. Y., he
once a week retired privately to the chapel to
meditate humbly upon his juvenile folly. Such
a man might deem a sermon on the method of
salvation " precious," without meriting from the
scoffer the charge of hypocrisy. — Hutchinson, II.
87, 108, 112-16, 121. '
BELLAMY, JOSEPH, D. D., an eminent min
ister, died March 6, 1790, aged 71, in the fiftieth
year of his ministry. lie was born at New Che
shire in 1719, and was graduated at Yale college
in 1735. It was not long after his removal from
New Haven, that he became the subject of those
serious impressions, which, it is believed, issued
in renovation of heart. From this period he
consecrated his talents to the evangelical ministry.
At the age of eighteen he began to preach with
acceptance and success. An uncommon blessing
attended his ministry at Bethlem in the town of
Woodbury ; a large proportion of the society ap
peared to be awakened to a sense of religion, and
they were unwilling to part with the man, by
whose ministry they had been conducted to a
knowledge of the truth. He was ordained to the
pastoral office over this church in 1740. In this
BELLAMY.
BELLAMY.
81
retirement he devoted himself with uncommon
ardor to his studies and the duties of his office
till the memorable revival, which was most con
spicuous in 1742. His spirit of piety was then
blown into a flame ; he could not be contented to
confine his labors to his small society. Taking
care that his own pulpit should be vacant as little
as possible, he devoted a considerable part of his
time for several years to itinerating in different
parts of Connecticut and the neighboring colonies,
preaching the gospel daily to multitudes, who
flocked to hear him. He was instrumental in the
conversion of many. When the awakening de
clined, he returned to a more constant attention
to his own charge. He now began the task of
writing an excellent treatise, entitled true religion
delineated, which was published in 1750. His
abilities, his ardent piety, his theological knowl
edge, his acquaintance with persons under all
kinds of religious impressions qualified him pecu
liarly for a work of this kind. From this time
he became more conspicuous, and young men,
who were preparing for the gospel ministry, ap
plied to him as a teacher. In tliis branch of his
work he was eminently useful till the decline of
life, when he relinquished it. His method of in
struction was the following. After ascertaining the
abilities and genius of those, who applied to him,
he gave them a number of questions on the lead
ing and most essential subjects of religion, in the
form of a system. He then directed them to
such books as treat these subjects with the great
est perspicuity and force of argument, and usually
spent his evenings in inquiring into their improve
ments and solving difficulties, till they had ob
tained a good degree of understanding in the
general system. After this, he directed them to
write on each of the questions before given
them, reviewing those parts of the authors which
treated on the subject proposed. These disserta
tions were submitted to his examination. As they
advanced in ability to make proper distinctions, he
led them to read the most learned and acute op-
posers of the truth, the deistical, arian, and socin-
ian writers, and laid open the fallacy of their
most specious reasonings. When the system
was completed, he directed them to write on sev
eral of the most important points systematicallv,
in the form of sermons. He next led them to
peruse the best experimental and practical dis
courses, and to compose sermons on Hive subjects.
He revised and corrected their compositions, in
culcating the necessity of a heart truly devoted
to Christ, and a life of watching and prayer ; dis
coursing occasionally on the various duties, trials,
comforts, and motives of the evangelical work ;
that his pupils might be, as far as possible,
" scribes well instructed in the kingdom of God."
In 1786 Dr. Bellamy was seized by a paralytic
affection, from which he never recovered. His
11
first wife, Frances Sherman of New Haven, whom
he married about 1744, died in 1785, the mother
of seven children. Of these Jonathan Bellamy,
a lawyer, took an active part in the war, and died
of the small pox in 1777 ; and Rebecca married
Rev. Mr. Hart. His eldest son, David, died at
Bethlem May, 1826, aged 75. His second wife
was the relict of Rev. Andrew Storrs of Water-
town.
Dr. Bellamy " was a large and well-built man,
of a commanding appearance." As a preacher,
he had perhaps no superior, and very few equals.
His voice was manly, his manner engaging and
most impressive. He had a peculiar faculty of
arresting the attention ; he was master of his
subject and could adapt himself to the meanest
capacity. When the law was his theme, he was
awful and terrifying; on the contrary, in the
most melting strains would he describe the suffer
ings of Christ and his love to sinners, and with
most persuasive eloquence invite them to be rec
onciled to God.
He was a man of wit and humor. He and
Mr. Sanford married sisters. B. said to S. in
reference to their different manner of preaching,
— " When I go a fishing, I have a suitable pole,
and black line, and, creeping along, keeping my
self out of sight, throw my hook gently into the
water ; but you, with a white-peeled pole, and
white line, march up boldly to the bank, and
splash in your hook and line, crying out, ' Bite,
you dogs ! ' "
In his declining years he did not retain his pop
ularity as a preacher. As a pastor he was dili
gent and faithful. He taught not only publicly
but from house to house. He was particularly
attentive to the rising generation. Besides the
stated labors of the Lord's day, he frequently
spent an hour in the intervals of public worship
in catechising the children of the congregation.
In a variety of respects Dr. Bellamy shone with
distinguished lustre. Extensive science and ease
of communicating his ideas rendered him one of
the best of instructors. His writings procured
him the esteem of the pious and learned at home
and abroad, with many of whom he maintained an
epistolary correspondence. In his preaching, a
mind rich in thought, a great command of lan
guage, and a powerful voice rendered his extem
porary discourses peculiarly acceptable. He was
one of the most able divines of this country. In
his sentiments he accorded mainly with President
Edwards, with whom he was intimately acquainted.
From comparing the first chapter of John with
the first of Genesis he was led to believe, and he
maintained, that the God, mentioned in the latter
as the Creator, was Jesus Christ.
He published a sermon entitled, early piety
recommended; true religion delineated, 1750;
sermons on the Divinity of Christ, the millennium,
82
BELLAMY.
BENEDICT.
and the wisdom of God in the permission of sin,
1758 ; letters and dialogues on the nature of love
to God, faith in Christ, and assurance, 1759 ; essay
on the glory of the gospel ; a vindication of his
sermon on the wisdom of God in the permission
of sin ; the law a schoolmaster ; the great evil of
sin ; election sermon, 1762. Besides these, he
published several small pieces on creeds and con
fessions ; on the covenant of grace ; on church
covenanting; and in answer to objections made
against his writings. The following are the titles
of some of these : the half-way covenant, 1768 ;
the inconsistency of renouncing the half-way
covenant and retaining the halt-way practice ; that
there is but one covenant, against Moses Mather.
His works, in 2 vols., with memoir by Dr. T.
Edwards, were published by Doct. Tract. Soc.,
Boston, 1830. — Brainerd's Life, 22, 41, 43, 55;
Trumbull, II. 159; Theol. Mag., I. 5.
BELLAMY, SAMUEL, a noted pirate, in his
ship, the "VVhidah, of twenty-three guns and one
hundred and thirty men, captured several vessels
on the coast of New England; but in April, 1717,
he was wrecked on Cape Cod. The inhabitants
of Wellfleet still point out the place of the
disaster. More than one hundred bodies were
found on the shore. Only one Englishman and
one Indian escaped. A few days before, the
master of a captured vessel, while seven pirates on
board were drunk, ran her on shore on the back
of the cape. Six of the pirates were executed at
Boston in November.
BELLINGIIAM, RICHARD, governor of Massa
chusetts, was a native of England, where he was
bred a lawyer. He came to this country in 1634,
and August 3d was received into the church, with
his wife Elizabeth, and in the following year was
chosen deputy governor. In 1641 he was elected
governor, in opposition to Mr. Winthrop, by a
majority of six votes; but the election did not
seem to be agreeable to the general court. He
was re-chosen to this office in 1654, and after the
death of Gov. Endicot was again elected in May,
1665. He continued chief magistrate of Massa
chusetts during the remainder of his life. He
was deputy governor thirteen years, and governor
ten. In 1664 he was chosen major-general. In
this year the king scut four commissioners, Nich
ols, Cartwright, Carr, and Maverick, to regulate
the affairs of the colonies. A long account of
their transactions is given by Hutchinson. Bell-
ingham and others, obnoxious to the king, were
required to go to England to answer for them
selves ; but the general court, by the advice of
the ministers, refused compliance and maintained
the charter rights. But they appeased his majesty
by sending lu'm "a ship load of masts." He
died Dec. 7, 1672, aged 80 years, leaving several
children. Of his singular second marriage in
1641 the following is a brief history: A young
gentlewoman was about to be contracted to a
friend of his, with his consent, "when on the
sudden the governor treated with her and
obtained her for himself." He failed to publish
the contract where he dwelt, and he performed
the marriage ceremony himself. The great in
quest presented him for breach of the order of
court; but at the appointed time of trial, not
choosing to go off from the bench and answer as
an offender, and but few magistrates being present,
he escaped any censure.
His excuse for this marriage was " the strength
of his affection." In his last will he gave certain
farms, after his wife's decease, and his whole
estate at Winisimet, after the decease of his son
and his son's daughter, for the annual encourage
ment of " godly ministers and preachers," at
tached to the principles of the first church, " a
main o'ne whereof is, that all ecclesiastical juris
diction is committed by Christ to each particular
organical church, from which there is no appeal."
The general court, thinking the rights of his
family were impaired, set aside the will. His
sister, Anne Hibbins, widow of William Hibbins,
an assistant, was executed as a witch in June,
1656. Hubbard speaks of Bellingham as " a very
ancient gentleman, having spun a long thread of
above eighty years;" "he was a great justiciary, a
notable hater of bribes, firm and fixed in any
resolution he entertained, of larger comprehension
than expression, like a vessel, whose vent holdeth
no good proportion with its capacity to contain, a
disadvantage to a public person." He did not
harmonize with the other assistants ; yet they
respected his character and motives.
Gov. Bellingham lived to be the only surviving
patentee named in the charter. He was severe
against those who were called sectaries ; but he
was a man of incorruptible integrity, and of ac
knowledged piety. In the ecclesiastical contro
versy, which was occasioned in Boston by the
settlement of Mr. Davenport, he was an advocate
of the first church. — Hutchinson, I. 41, 43, 97,
211, 269 ; Neal's Hist., I. 390 ; Mather's Mag., n.
18; Holmes, I. 414; Savaye's Winthrop, n. 43.
BENEDICT, NOAII, minister of Woodbury,
Conn., was graduated at Princeton college in
1757, and was ordained as the successor of
Anthony Stoddard, Oct. 22, 1760. He died in
Sept., 1813, aged 75. He published a sermon on
the death of Dr. Bellamy, 1790, and memoirs of
B., 1811.
BENEDICT, JOEL, D. I)., minister of Plain-
field, Conn., was graduated at Princeton college
in 1765, settled at Plainfield in 1782, and died in
1816, aged 71. He was a distinguished Hebrew
scholar; and for his excellent character he was
held in high respect. One of his daughters
BENEZET.
married Dr. Nott, president of Union college.
He published a sermon on the death of Dr. Hart,
1809.
BENEZET, ANTHONT, a philanthropist of
Philadelphia, died May 3, 1784, aged 71. He
was born at St. Quintals, a town in the province
of Picardy, France, Jan. 31, 1713. About the
time of lu's birth the persecution against the
Protestants was carried on with relentless se
verity, in consequence of which many thousands
found it necessary to leave their native country,
and seek a shelter in a foreign land. Among
these were his parents, who removed to London
in Feb., 1715, and, after remaining there upwards of
sixteen years, came to Philadelphia in Nov., 1731.
During their residence in Great Britain they had
imbibed the religious opinions of the Quakers,
and were received into that body immediately
after their arrival in this country.
In the early part of his life Benezet was put an
apprentice to a merchant ; but soon after his mar
riage in 1722, when his affairs were in a prosperous
situation, he left the mercantile business, that he
might engage in some pursuit, which would afford
him more leisure for the duties of religion and for
the exercise of that benevolent spirit, for which
during the course of a long life he was so con
spicuous. But no employment, which accorded
perfectly with his inclination, presented itself till
the year 1742, when he accepted the appointment
of instructor in the Friends' English school of
Philadelphia. The duties of the honorable, though
not very lucrative, office of a teacher of youth he
from this period continued to fulfil with unremit
ting assiduity and delight and with very little
intermission till his death. During the two last
years of his life his zeal to do good induced him
to resign the school, which he had long super
intended, and to engage in the instruction of the
blacks. In doing this he did not consult his
worldly interest, but was influenced by a regard
to the welfare of men, whose minds had been
debased by servitude. He wished to contribute
something towards rendering them fit for the
enjoyment of that freedom, to which many of
them had been restored. So great was his
sympathy with every being capable of feeling
pain, that he resolved towards the close of his life
to eat no animal food. His active mind did not
yield to the debility of his body. He persevered
in his attendance upon his school till within a few
days of his decease.
Such was the general esteem in which he was
held, that his funeral was attended by persons of
all religious denominations. Many hundred ne
groes followed their friend and benefactor to the
grave, and by their tears they proved that they
possessed the sensibilities of men. An officer,
who had served in the army during the war with
Britain, observed at this time, " I would rather
BENEZET.
83
be Anthony Benezet in that coffin, than George
Washington with all his fame." He exhibited
uncommon activity and industry in every thing
which he undertook. He used to say, that the
highest act of charity was to bear with the un
reasonableness of mankind. He generally wore
plush clothes, and gave as a reason for it, that,
after he had worn them for two or three years,
they made comfortable and decent garments for
the poor. So disposed was he to malic himself
contented in every situation, that when his mem
ory began to fail him, instead of lamenting the
decay of his powers, he said to a young friend,
"This gives me one great advantage over you, for
you can find entertainment in reading a good
book only once ; but I enjoy that pleasure as often
as I read it, for it is always new to me." Few
men, since the days of the apostles, ever lived a
more disinterested life ; yet upon his death-bed
he expressed a desire to live a little longer, " that
he might bring down self." The last time he ever
walked across his room was to take from his desk
six dollars, which he gave to a poor widow, whom
he had long assisted to maintain. In his conver
sation he was affable and unreserved ; in his
manners gentle and conciliating. For the acqui
sition of wealth he wanted neither abilities nor
opportunity; but he made himself contented with
a little ; and with a competency he was liberal be
yond most of those, whom a bountiful Providence
had encumbered with riches. By his will he de
vised lu's estate, after the decease of his wife, to
certain trustees for the use of the African school.
While the British army was in possession of Phila
delphia, he was indefatigable in his endeavors to
render the situation of the persons who suffered
from captivity, as easy as possible. He knew no
fear in the presence of a fellow man, however
dignified by titles or station ; and such was the
propriety and gentleness of his manners in his
intercourse with the gentlemen, who commanded
the British and German troops, that, when he
could not obtain the object of his requests, he
•never failed to secure their civilities and esteem.
Although the life of Mr. Benezet was passed in
the instruction of youth, yet his expansive benevo
lence extended itself to a wider sphere of useful
ness. Giving but a small portion of his time to
sleep, he employed his pen both day and night in
writing books on religious subjects, composed
chiefly with a view to inculcate the peaceable
temper and doctrines of the gospel, in opposition
to the spirit of war, and to expose the flagrant
injustice of slavery, and fix the stamp of infamy
on the traffic in human blood. His writings con
tributed much towards meliorating the condition
of slaves, and undoubtedly had influence on the
public mind in effecting the complete prohibition
of that trade, which until the year 1808 was a
blot on the American national character. In order
84
BENJAMIN.
BERKELEY.
to disseminate his publications and increase his
usefulness, he held a correspondence with such
persons in various parts of Europe and America,
as united with him in the same benevolent design,
or would be likely to promote the objects, which
he was pursuing. No ambitious or covetous views
impelled liim to his exertions. Regarding all
mankind as children of one common Father and
members of one great family, he was anxious, that
oppression and tyranny should cease, and that
men should live together in mutual kindness and
affection, lie himself respected and he wished
others to respect the sacred injunction of doing
unto others as they would that others should do
unto them. On the return of peace in 1783, ap
prehending that the revival of commerce would be
likely to renew the African slave trade, which
during the war had been in some measure ob
structed, he addressed a letter to the queen of
Great Britain, to solicit her influence on the side
of humanity. At the close of this letter he says,
" I hope thou wilt kindly excuse the freedom used
on this occasion by an ancient man, whose mind
for more than forty years past has been much
separated from the common course of the world,
long painfully exercised in the consideration of
the miseries under which so large a part of man
kind, equally with us the objects of redeeming
love, are suffering the most unjust and grievous
oppression, and who sincerely desires the tem
poral and eternal felicity of the queen and her
royal consort." lie published, among other tracts,
an account of that part of Africa inhabited by
negroes, 1762 ; a caution to Great Britain and
her colonies, in a short representation of the ca
lamitous state of the enslaved negroes in the
British dominions, 1707 ; some historical account
of Guinea, with an inquiry into the slave trade,
1771; a short account of the society of Friends,
1780; a dissertation on the Christian religion,
1782; tracts against the use of ardent spirits;
observations on the Indian natives, 1784. — Rusk's
Essays, 311-314; Vaux's Memoir; New and
Gen. Biog. Diet. ; Am. Museum, ix. 192-194.
BENJAMIN, NATHAN, missionary, died at Con
stantinople Jan. 27, 1855, aged 43 ; one month
after the death of Mrs. Grant. Born in Catskill,
he lived in Williamstown, where he graduated in
1831, and at Andover in 1834. He married Mary
G. Wheeler of New York, and proceeded to
Argos in 1836, and to Athens in 1838, where he
labored six years, chiefly in connection with the
press. In 1844 he entered upon the Armenian
mission at Trebizond ; but the ill health of his
wife brought him to America in 1845.
Being summoned to a new mission, he arrived
at Smyrna Dec. 7, 1847 ; and there he toiled in
the printing of the Bible and tracts in the Arme
nian. The printing operations were transferred
to Constantinople in 1852 ; and there he also
preached statedly in Greek and English. Living
at Pera, and being the treasurer of the mission,
a great amount of business fell upon him. He
died of the typhus fever ; his last words were,
"Come, Lord Jesus; come quickly." — Mr. B.
had a large share of common sense, a sound
judgment, a knowledge of books and of men.
By printed truth he will preach for ages to thou
sands of Armenians.
BENNET, DAVID, a physician, was born in
England Dec. 1, 1615, and died at Rowley, Mass.,
Feb. 4, 1719, aged 103 years. He never lost a
tooth. His senses were good to the last. His
wife was the sister of William Phipps. His son,
Spencer, who took the name of Phipps, was
graduated in 1703, was lieut. governor of Mass.,
and died April 4, 1757, aged 72. — Farmer.
BENNETT, BARTLETT, a Baptist minister, died
at Cincinnati Oct. 12, 1842, aged 99. He was
born in Albemarle county, Va., in 1743 ; was a
preacher at the age of 25, a pioneer of Kentucky.
BENSON, EGBERT, LL. I)., judge, died at
Jamaica, N. Y., in Aug., 1833, aged 86 ; a man
of learning and eminent virtues. He was a grad
uate of Columbia college in 1765, a member of
congress, a judge of the supreme court of New
York, and of the circuit court of the United States.
He wrote remarks on " The Wife " of Irving.
BENTLEY, WILLIAM, D. D., born in Bos
ton, graduated at Harvard in 1777, and was
ordained over the second church of Salem Sept.,
1783. He died suddenly Dec. 29, 1819, aged
61. In his theological notions he was regarded
as a Socinian. Some of his sermons were re
markably deficient in perspicuity of style. For
nearly twenty years he edited the Essex Register,
a newspaper, which espoused the democratic side
in politics. He was a great collector of books,
and much conversant with ancient branches of
learning, admitting of little practical application.
His valuable library and cabinet he bequeathed
cliiefly to the college at Meadville, Pennsylvania,
and to the American Antiquarian society at Wor
cester. An eulogy was pronounced by Prof. E.
Everett. — He published a sermon on Matt. 7:
21, 1790; on the death of J. Gardiner, 1791 ; of
Gen. Fiske, 1797 ; of B. Hodges, 1804 ; collec
tion of psalms and hymns, 1795 ; three masonic
addresses and a masonic charge, 1797-1799; at
the artillery election, 1796 ; at ordination of J.
Richardson, 1806 ; before the female charitable
society ; at the election, 1807 ; a history of Salem
in Historical Collections, vol. vn.
BENTLEY, WILLIAM, an eminent Baptist
minister, died at Weathersfield in Jan., 1856, aged
81.
BERKELEY, CARTER, M. D., died in Hano
ver, Va., Nov. 3, 1739, aged 71, — while feeling
BERKELEY.
BERKELEY.
85
the pulse of a dying patient. He was a descend
ant of Sir William B. ; a distinguished physician,
a benevolent man and a Christian.
BERKELEY, AVlLLlAM, governor of Virginia,
was born of an ancient family near London and
was educated at Merton college, in Oxford, of
which he was afterwards a fellow. He was ad
mitted master of arts in 1629. In 1630 he
travelled in different parts of Europe. He is
described as being in early life the perfect model
of an elegant courtier and a high-minded cavalier.
He succeeded Sir Francis Wyatt in the govern
ment of Virginia in 1641. Some years after his
arrival the Indians, irritated by encroachments
on their territory, massacred about five hundred
of the colonists. This massacre occurred about
April 18, 1644, soon after, as Winthrop says, an
act of persecution. Sir William with a company
of horse surprised the aged Oppecancanough, and
brought him prisoner to Jamestown. The Indian
emperor was a man of dignified sentiments. One
day, when there was a large crowd in his room
gazing at him, he called for the governor, and
said to him, " If it had been my fortune to have
taken Sir William Berkeley prisoner, I should
have disdained to have made a show of him to
my people." About a fortnight after he was taken,
a brutal soldier shot him through the back, of
which wound the old man soon died. A firm
peace was soon afterwards made with the Indians.
During the civil Avar in England Gov. Berkeley
took the side of the king, and Virginia was the
last of the possessions of England, which ac
knowledged the authority of Cromwell. Severe
laws were made against the Puritans, though there
were none in the colony; commerce was inter
rupted; and the people were unable to supply
themselves even with tools for agriculture. It
was not till 1651, that Virginia was subdued.
The parliament had sent a fleet to reduce Barba-
does, and from this place a small squadron was
detached under the command of Capt. Denm's.
The Virginians, by the help of some Dutch vessels
which were then in the port, made such resistance,
that he was obliged to have recourse to other
means besides force. He sent word to two of the
members of the council, that he had on board a
valuable cargo belonging to them, which they must
lose, if the protector's authority was not imme
diately acknowledged. Such dissensions now
took place in the colony, that Sir William and his
friends were obliged to submit on the terms of a
general pardon. He however remained in the
country, passing his time in retirement at his own
plantation, and observing with satisfaction, that the
parliament made a moderate use of its success,
and that none of the Virginia royalists were per
secuted for their resistance.
After the death of Gov. Matthews, who was
appointed by Cromwell, the people applied to Sir
William to resume the government ; but he de
clined complying with their request, unless they
would submit themselves again to the authority
of the king. Upon their consenting to do this,
he resumed his former authority in January, 1659 ;
i and King Charles II. was proclaimed in Virginia
before his restoration to the throne of England.
I The death of Cromwell, in the mean time,
dissipated from the minds of the colonists the fear
of the consequences of their boldness. After the
restoration Gov. Berkeley received a new com
mission and was permitted to go to England to
pay his respects to his majesty. During his
absence the deputy governor, whom he had ap
pointed, in obedience to his orders collected the
laws into one body. The church of England was
made the established religion, parishes were regu
lated, and, besides a parsonage house and glebe, a
, yearly stipend in tobacco, to the value of eighty
I pounds, was settled on the minister. In 1662
! Gov. Berkeley returned to Virginia, and in the
following year the laws were enforced against the
dissenters from the establishment, by which a
number of them were driven from the colony.
In 1667, in consequence of his attempt to extend
the influence of the council over certain measures
of the assembly, he awakened the fears and in
dignation of the latter body. From this period
the governor's popularity declined. A change
also was observed in his deportment, which lost
its accustomed urbanity. His faithlessness and
obstinacy may be regarded as the causes of
Bacon's rebellion in 1076. The people earnestly
desired, that Bacon might be appointed general in
the Indian war ; and the governor promised to
give him a commission, but broke his promise,
and thus occasioned the rebellion. As his obsti
nacy caused the rebellion, so his revengeful spirit,
after it was suppressed, aggravated the evils of it
by the severity of the punishments inflicted on
Bacon's adherents. Though he had promised
pardon and indemnity, " nothing was heard of
but fines, executions, and confiscations." When
the juries refused to aid his projects of vengeance,
he resorted to the summary proceedings of
martial law. The assembly at length restrained
him by their remonstrances. Charles II. is said
to have remarked concerning him, "The old fool
has taken away more lives in that naked country,
than I have taken for the murder of my father."
After the rebellion, peace was preserved not so
much by the removal of the grievances, which
i awakened discontent, as by the arrival of a regi
ment from England, which remained a long time
in the country.
In 1677 Sir William was induced, on account
of his ill state of health, to return to England,
leaving Col. Jeffreys deputy governor. He died
soon after his arrival, and before he had seen the
lung, after an administration of nearly forty
86
BERKELEY.
BERKELEY.
years. He was buried at Twickenham July 13,
1677. The following extract from his answer in
June, 1671, to inquiries of the committee for the
colonies, is a curious specimen of his loyalty :
" We have forty-eight parishes and our ministers
are well paid, and by my consent should be
better, if they would pray oftener and preach less ;
but, as of all other commodities, so of this, the
worst are sent us, and we have few, that we can
boast of, since the persecution in Cromwell's
tyranny drove divers worthy men hither. Yet I
thank God, there are no free schools, nor printing ;
and I hope we shall not have these hundred
years. For learning has brought disobedience,
and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing
has divulged them and libels against the best
government." Thus Sir William, of a very differ
ent spirit from the early governors of New Eng
land, seems to have had much the same notion of
education as the African governor, mentioned by
Robert Southey in his colloquies. The black
prince said, he would send his son to England,
that he might learn " to read book and be rogue.''
More recently Mr. Giles of Virginia expressed
his belief, that learning was become too general.
He published the lost lady, a tragi-comedy,
1639; a discourse and view of Virginia, pp. 12.
1663. — Keith's Hist. Virginia, 144-162 ; Wynne,
II. 216-224; Holmes, I. 293, 311; Chalmers, I.
336, 337; Wood's Athence Oxonienses, II. 5865
Sav. Wintlirop, n. 159, 165.
BERKELEY, GEOIIGE, bishop of Cloyne in
Ireland, and a distinguished benefactor of Yale
College, was born March 12, 1684, at Kilcrin in
the county of Kilkenny, and was educated at
Trinity college, Dublin. After publishing a num
ber of his works, which gained him a high reputa
tion, particularly liis theory of vision, he travelled
four or five years upon the continent. He re
turned in 1721, and a fortune was soon bequeathed
him by Mrs. Vanhomrigh, a lady of Dublin, the
"Vanessa" of Swift. In 1724 he was promoted
to the deanery of Derry, worth 1 100 pounds per
annum. Having for some time conceived the
benevolent project of converting the savages of
America to Christianity by means of a college to
be erected in one of the isles of Bermuda, he
published a proposal for this purpose at London
in 1725. and offered to resign his own opulent
preferment, and to dedicate the remainder of his
life to the instruction of youth in America on the
subsistence of 100 pounds a year. He obtained
a grant of 10,000 pounds from the government
of Great Britain, and immediately set sail for the
field of his labors. He arrived at Newport, R. I.,
in Feb., 1729, with a view of settling a correspon
dence there for supplying his college with such
provisions as might be wanted from the northern
colonies. Here he purchased a country seat and
farm in the neighborhood of Newport, and
resided about two years and a half. His house,
which he called Whitehall, still remains, situated
half a mile north-east from the state house. To
the Episcopal church he gave an organ and a
small library. His usual place of study was a
cliff or crag near his dwelling. His residence in
this country had some influence on the progress
of Literature, particularly in Rhode Island and
Connecticut. The presence and conversation of a
man so illustrious for talents, learning, virtue,
and social attractions could not fail of giving a
spring to the literary diligence and ambition of
many, who enjoyed his acquaintance. Finding,
at length, that the promised aid of the ministry
towards his new college would fail him, Dean
Berkeley returned to England. At his departure
he distributed the books, which he had brought
with him, among the clergy of Rhode Island.
He embarked at Boston in Sept., 1731. In the
following year he published his minute philosopher,
a work of great ingenuity and merit, which he
wrote while at Newport. It was not long before
he sent, as a gift to Yale college, a deed of the
farm, which he held in Rhode Island ; the rents
of which he directed to be appropriated to the
maintenance of the three best classical scholars,
who should reside at college at least nine months
in a year in each of three years between their
first and second degrees. All surplusages of
money, arising from accidental vacancies, were to
be distributed in Greek and Latin books to such
undergraduates, as should make the best compo
sition in the Latin tongue upon such a moral
theme as should be given them. lie also made
a present to the library of Yale college of nearly
one thousand volumes. AVhcn it is considered,
that he was warmly attached to the Episcopal
church, and that he came to America for the
express purpose of founding an Episcopal college,
his munificence to an institution, under the exclu
sive direction of a different denomination, must
be thought worthy of high praise. It was in the
year 1733 that he was made bishop of Cloyne ;
and from this period he discharged with exemplary
faithfulness the episcopal duties, and prosecuted
his studies with unabating diligence. On the
14th of January, 1753, he was suddenly seized at
Oxford, whither he had removed in 1752, by a
disorder called the palsy of the heart, and
instantly expired, being nearly sixty-nine years of
age. Pope ascribes
" To Berkeley every virtue under heaven."
His fine portrait by Smibert, with his family and
the artist himself, will be contemplated with de
light by all, who visit Yale college. Bishop
Berkeley, while at Cloyne, constantly rose between
three and four in the morning. His favorite
author was Plato. His character, though marked
by enthusiasm, was singularly excellent and amia-
BERKELEY.
ble. lie was held by his acquaintance in the
highest estimation. Bishop Atterbury, after be
ing introduced to him, exclaimed, " so much un
derstanding, so much knowledge, so much inno
cence, and such humility I did not think had been
the portion of any but angels, till I saw this gen
tleman." It is well known, that Bishop Berkeley
rejected the commonly received notion of the ex
istence of matter, and contended, that what arc
called sensible material objects are not external
but exist in the mind, and are merely impressions
made upon our mind by the immediate act of
God. These peculiar sentiments he supported in
his work, entitled, the principles of human knowl
edge, 1710, and in the dialogues between Ily-
las and Philonous, 1713. Besides these works,
and the minute philosopher, in which he attacks
the free thinker with great ingenuity and effect,
he published, also, arithmetica absque algebra
aut Euclide demonstrata, 1707; theory of vision,
1709; de motu, 1721; an essay towards prevent
ing the ruin of Great Britain, 1721 ; the analyst,
1734 ; a defence of free thinking in mathematics,
1735 ; the querist, 1735 ; discourse addressed to
magistrates, 1736; on the virtues of tar water,
1741; maxims concerning patriotism, 1750. —
Chandler's Life of Johnson, 47-60 ; Miller, II.
349 ; fiees' Cycl. ; Holmes, n. 53.
BERKLEY, ALEXANDER, died at Lynchburg,
Va., Oct. 25, 1825, aged 114: his wife died Jan.
9, 1825, aged 111.
BERKLEY, NORBORNE, baron de Botetourt,
one of the last governors of Virginia while a
British colony, obtained the peerage of Botetourt
in 1764. In July, 1768, he was appointed gov
ernor of Virginia in the place of Gen. Amherst.
He died at Williamsburg Oct 15, 1770, aged 52.
At his death the government, in consequence of
tire resignation of John Blair, devolved upon
William Nelson, until the appointment in Decem
ber of Lord Dunmore, then governor of New
York. Lord Botetourt seems to have been highly
respected in Virginia. His exertions to promote
the interests of William and Mary college were
zealous and unremittcd. He instituted an annual
contest among the students for two golden med- \
als of the value of five guineas ; one for the best
Latin oration on a given subject, and the other for
superiority in mathematical science. For a long
time he sanctioned by his presence morning and
evening prayers in the college. No company
nor avocation prevented his attendance on this
service. He was extremely fond of literary char
acters. No one of this class, who had the least
claims to respect, was ever presented to him
without receiving his encouragement. — Miller,
II. 378; Boston Gazette, Nov. 12, 1770; Mar
shall, IT. 130.
BERNARD, FRANCIS, governor of Massachu
setts, was the governor of New Jersey, after Gov.
BERNARD.
87
Belcher, in 1758. He succeeded Gov. Fownall
of Massachusetts, in 1760. Arriving at Boston
Aug. 2d, he continued at the head of the govern
ment nine years. His administration was during
one of the most interesting periods in American
history. He had governed New Jersey two years
in a manner very acceptable to that province, and
the first part of his administration in Massachu
setts was very agreeable to the general court.
Soon after his arrival Canada was surrendered to
Amherst. Besides voting a salary of 1300 pounds,
they made to him at the first session a grant of Mt.
Desert Island, which was confirmed by the king.
Much harmony prevailed for two or three years ;
but this prosperous and happy commencement
did not continue. There had long been two par
ties in the State, the advocates for the crown, and
the defenders of the rights of the people. Gov.
Bernard was soon classed with those, who were
desirous of strengthening the royal authority in
America ; the sons of liberty therefore stood
forth uniformly in opposition to him. His indis
cretion in appointing Mr. Ilutchinson chief jus
tice, instead of giving that office to Col. Otis of
Barnstable, to whom it had been promised by
Shirley, proved very injurious to his cause. In
consequence of this appointment he lost the influ
ence of Col. Otis, and by yielding himself to Mr.
Ilutchinson he drew upon him the hostility of
James Otis, the son, a man of great talents, who
soon became the leader on the popular side. The
laws for the regulation of trade and the severities
of the officers of customs were the first things
which greatly agitated the public mind ; and af
terwards the stamp act increased the energy of
resistance to the schemes of tyranny. Gov. Ber
nard possessed no talent for conciliating ; he was
for accomplishing ministerial purposes by force ;
and the spirit of freedom gathered strength from
the open manner in which he attempted to crush
it. His speech to the general court after the re
peal of the stamp act was by no means calculated
to assuage the angry passions which had lately
been excited. He was the principal means of
bringing the troops to Boston, that he might
overawe the people ; and it was owing to him,
that they were continued in the town. This
measure had been proposed by him and Mr.
Ilutchinson long before it was executed. While
he professed himself a friend to the province, he
was endeavoring to undermine its constitution,
and to obtain an essential alteration in the char
ter, by transferring from the general court to the
crown the right of electing the council. His
conduct, though it drew upon him the indigna
tion of the province, was so pleasing to the min
istry, that he was created a baronet March 20,
1769. Sir Francis had too little command of his
temper. He could not conceal his resentments,
and he could not restrain his censures. One of
88
BERNARD.
BEVERLY.
his last public measures was to prorogue the gen
eral court in July, in consequence of their refusing
to make provision for the support of the troops.
The general court, however, before they were pro
rogued, embraced the opportunity of drawing up
a petition to his majesty for the removal of the
governor. It was found necessary to recall him,
and he embarked Aug. 1, 1769, leaving Mr.
Hutchinson, the lieutenant-governor, commander
in chief. There were few who lamented his de
parture. He died in England in June, 1779.
His second son, Sir John B., who held public offi
ces in Barbadoes and St. Vincent's, died in 1809;
his third son, Sir Thomas B., was graduated at
Harvard college in 1767, and marrying in Eng
land a lady of fortune, the daughter of Patrick
Adair, devoted much of his time to various benev
olent institutions in London, so as to gain the
reputation of a philanthropist ; he died July 1,
1818 : his publications, chiefly designed to im
prove the common people, were numerous.
The newspapers were very free in the ridicule
of the parsimony and domestic habits of Bernard.
But he was temperate, a friend to literature, and
a benefactor of Harvard college, exerting himself
for its relief after the destruction of the library
by fire. He was himself a man of erudition, be
ing conversant with books, and retaining the
striking passages in his strong memory. He
said, that he could repeat the whole of Shak-
speare. Believing the Christian religion, he
attended habitually public worship. Though
attached to the English church, when he resided
at Roxbury, he often repaired to the nearest Con
gregational meeting, that of Brookline.
If a man of great address and wisdom had
occupied the place of Sir Francis, it is very prob
able, that the American Revolution would not
have occurred so soon. But his arbitrary princi
ples and his zeal for the authority of the crown
enkindled the spirit of the people, while his rep
resentations to the ministry excited them to those
measures, which hastened the separation of the
colonies from the mother country.
From the letters of Gov. Bernard, which were
obtained and transmitted to this country by Mr.
Bollan, it appears, that he had very little regard
to the interests of liberty. His select letters on
the trade and government of America, written in
Boston from 1763 to 1768, were published in
London in 1774. His other letters, written home
in confidence, were published in 1768 and 1769.
He wrote several pieces in Greek and Latin in
the collection made at Cambridge, styled, " Pietas
et Gratulatio," 1761. — Minofs Hist. Mass. i. 73-
222; Gordon, I. 139, 272-274; Marshall, II.
96, 114; Eliot.
BERRIEN, JOHN MACTHERSON, attorney-gen
eral of U. S., died at Savannah Jan. 1, 1856 : he
had been a senator. A speech of his is in Willis-
ton's " Eloquence."
BERRY, JOHN, died on Peterson's Creek, Va.,
in 1845, aged 101 : he was a soldier in various
battles.
BETHUXE, DIVIE, an eminent philanthropist
and Christian, was born at Dingwall, Rosshire,
Scotland, in 1771. In early life he resided at
Tobago, where his only brother was a physician.
At the command of his pious mother he left the
irreligious island and removed to the United
States in 1792, and settled as a merchant in New
York. He soon joined the church of Dr.' Mason ;
in 1802 became one of its elders. He died Sept.
18, 1824. His wife was the daughter of Isabella
Graham. Before a tract society was formed in
this country Mr. Bethune printed ten thousand
tracts at his own expense, and himself distributed
many of them. He also imported Bibles for dis
tribution. From 1803 to 1816 he was at the sole
expense of one or more Sunday schools. The
tenth of his gains he devoted to the service of
his heavenly Master. In his last sickness he said :
" I wish my friends to help me through the val
ley by reading to me the word of God. I have
not read much lately but the Bible : the Bible !
the Bible ! I want nothing but the Bible ! O,
the light, that has shined into my soul through
the Bible !" His end was peace. Such a bene
factor of the human family is incomparably more
worthy of remembrance, than the selfish philoso
phers and the great warriors of the earth. —
N. Y. Observer ; Boston Recorder, Oct. 16.
BETTS, THADDEUS, died at Norwalk, Conn.,
April 7, 1840. He was a graduate of Yale of
1807, a lawyer of eminence, lieutenant-governor,
and senator of the U. S.
BEVERIDGE, JOHN, a poet, was a native of
Scotland. In 1758 he was appointed professor of
languages in the college and academy of Phila
delphia. He published in 1765 a volume of
Latin poems, entitled, " Epistokc familiares et
alia quaedam miscellanea." In an address to John
Pcnn he suggests, that a conveyance to him of
some few acres of good land would be a proper
return for the poetic mention of the Pcnn family.
The Latin hint was lost upon the Englishman.
The unrewarded poet continued to ply the birch
in the vain attempt to govern seventy or eighty
ungovernable boys. — Mem. Hist. Soc. of Penn.,
I. 145.
BEVERLY, ROBERT, a native of Virginia,
died in 1716. He was clerk of the council about
1697, when Andros was governor, with a salary of
50 pounds and perquisites. Intimately associated
with the government, his views of public measures
were influenced by his situation. His book was
written by a man in office. Peter Beverly was at
the same time clerk of the house of burgesses.
BEVERLY.
BIDDLE.
89
Mr. Beverly published a history of that colony,
London, 1705, in .four parts, embracing the first
settlement of Virginia and the government there
of to the time when it was written ; the natural
productions and conveniences of the country,
suited to trade and improvement ; the native In
dians, their religion, laws, and customs ; and the
state of the country as to the policy of the gov
ernment and the improvements of the land.
Another edition was published with Gnbelin'a
cuts, Svo. 1722 ; and a French translation, with
plates, Amsterd., 1707. This work in the histor
ical narration is as concise and unsatisfactory, as
the history of Stith is prolix and tedious.
BEVERLY, CARTER, a distinguished Virgin
ian, died at Fredericksburg Feb. 10, 1844, aged
72.
BIART, PIERRE, a Jesuit missionary, came
from France to Port 1 loyal in June, 1611. Of
his voyage and events at Acadia he made a rela
tion, in which Charlcvoix confides more than in
the memoirs used by De Laet to decry the
Jesuits. Biart gave the name of Souriquois to
the Indians afterwards called Micmacks. In 1G12
he ascended the Kim'bequi or Kennebec, and was
well received by the Canibas, formerly called the
Canibequi, a nation of the Abenaquis, from whom
the name of the river is derived. This visit was
soon after the attempted establishment of the
English under Popham at the mouth of the Ken
nebec. He was followed by Dreuillettes in 1640.
Biart obtained provisions for Port Royal. In
1613 he repaired to the Penobscot, to the settle
ment called S. Sauveur. According to Charlcvoix
he performed a miracle in healing by baptism a
sick Malecite Indian child. But the miraculous
powers of the Jesuit failed him on the arrival of
Argall, who took him prisoner and carried him
to Virginia and England. — Ckarlec. l. 131;
Maine Hist. Coll., I. 325.
BIBB, WILLIAM W., governor of Alabama,
was a representative from Georgia from 1813 to
1815. He was appointed in 1817 governor of
the territory of Alabama, and under the consti
tution of the State was elected the first governor
in 1819. He died at his residence near fort
Jackson July 9, 1820, aged 39 years, and was suc
ceeded by Israel Pickens. He was highly re
spected for his talents and dignity as a states
man ; and in private life was condescending, affa
ble and kind.
BIDDLE, NICHOLAS, a naval commander, was
born in Philadelphia Sept. 10, 1750. In sailing
to the West Indies in 1765 he was cast away.
The long boat being lost and the yawl not being
large enough to carry away all the crew, he and
three others were left by lot two months in mis
ery on an island, which was uninhabited. His
many voyages made him a thorough seaman. In
1770 he went to London and entered the British
12
navy. When Capt. Phipps, afterwards Lord Mul-
grave, was about to sail on his exploring expedi
tion, Biddle, then a midshipman, absconded from
his own ship and entered on board the Carcass
before the mast. Horatio Nelson was on board
the same vessel. After the commencement of the
Revolution he returned to Philadelphia. Being
appointed commander of the Andrew Doria, a
brig of 14 guns and 130 men, he sailed under
Com. Hopkins in the successful expedition against
Xew Providence. After refitting at New London,
he was ordered to proceed off the banks of New
foundland. He captured in 1776, among other
prizes, two ships from Scotland with four hundred
Highland troops. Being appointed to the com
mand of the Randolph, a frigate of thirty-two
guns, he sailed from Philadelphia in Feb., 1777.
lie soon carried into Charleston four valuable pri
zes, one of them the True Briton of twenty guns.
A little fleet was now fitted out under his com
mand, with which he cruised in the West Indies.
In an action with the British ship Yarmouth of
sixty-four guns March 7, 1778, Capt. Biddle was
wounded, and a few minutes afterwards, while he
was under the hands of the surgeon, the Ran
dolph with a crew of three hundred and fifteen
blew up, and he and all his men, but four, per
ished. The four men were tossed about four
days on a piece of the wreck, before they were
taken up. The other vessels escaped, from the
disabled condition of the Yarmouth. Capt. Bid-
die was but 27 years of age. He had displayed the
qualities requisite for a naval commander, —
skill, coolness, self-possession, courage, together
with humanity and magnanimity. His temper
was cheerful. Believing the gospel, his religious
impressions had a powerful influence upon his con
duct. He was a brother of the late Judge Biddle.
— Rogers ; Biog. Americana.
BIDDLE, THOMAS, was a captain of artillery
in the campaigns on the Niagara in 1813 and 1814.
He served under Gen. Scott at the capture of
Fort George. In the battle of Lundy's lane he
brought off a piece of the enemy's artillery.
After the Avar, with the brevet rank of major, he
removed to St. Louis, Missouri, and was paymas
ter in the army. He was shot in a duel with
Spencer Pettis, a member of congress, and died
Aug. 29, 1831, at the age of 41. The history of
this affair is the history of consummate folly, dis
creditable pusillanimity, and hardened depravity.
Political controversy was the origin of the duel.
Biddle had anonymously abused Pettis in the
newspapers ; tin's led to a retort of hard words.
Next, Biddle assaulted Pettis when he was asleep,
with a cowskiii. Bonds were imposed on Biddle
for the preservation of the peace. At last the
friends of Mr. Pettis urged him and constrained
him to challenge his chastiser and to hazard his
life and soul in the attempt of mutual murder.
90
BIDDLE.
The distance chosen by Biddle, who was near
sighted, was five feet, so that the pistols would
overlap each other, making death apparently cer
tain to both : accordingly both fell, Friday, Aug.
26th, and soon their spirits went into eternity
with the guilt of blood. Pettis died on Saturday
and Biddle on [Monday. The promoters of this
duel must be regarded as sharers in the guilt.
Dean Swift remarked, "None but fools fight
duels, and the sooner the world is rid of such
folks, the better." It will be well for those, who
call themselves men of honor, and well for their
miserable families, if they shall learn to fear the
judgment of God rather than the sneers of un
principled men, and if they shall learn to abstain
from calumny, to forgive injuries, and to love a
brother. — N. Y. Mercury, iv. 9.
BIDDLE, NICHOLAS, died at Andalusia, near
Philadelphia, Feb. 27, 1844, aged 58. He was
the son of Charles Biddle of Philadelphia, a whig
of the Revolution. At the age of 19 he was
secretary to Armstrong in his mission to Paris.
On his return he studied law and devoted himself
much to literature, for a time editing the Port-
Folio. In 1819 he was one of the directors of
the bank of the United States, and in 1823 suc
ceeded Mr. Cheves as president, — a post which
he filled sixteen years. Under his management
and the hostility of Gen. Jackson the bank broke
down. He wrote the commercial digest.
BIDDLE, WILLIAM P., died at Newbern,
N. C., Aug. 8, 1853, after a ministry cf nearly
hah0 a century. Born in Virginia, he was a pion
eer of the Baptists in North Carolina.
BIDDLE, JAMES, commodore, died at Phila
delphia Oct. 1, 1848, aged 65. Educated at the
Pennsylvania university, he entered the navy in
1800, and was engaged in various actions. He
captured the Penguin. He signed the commer
cial treaty with Turkey in 1832, and commanded
a squadron in China in 1847.
BIENVILLE, LE MOYNE De, governor of Lou
isiana and founder of New Orleans, took the name
of his brother, who was killed by the Iroquois in
1691. While in command at Mobile, he mani
fested his humanity by liberating the prisoners,
which were brought from Carolina by the Indians,
in the Indian war of 1715. In 17 14 he constructed
a fort at Natchez, and in 1717, on a visit to the
governor of Mobile, he obtained permission to
lay the foundation of the city of New Orleans.
In 1726, M. Perrier being nominated commandant
of Louisiana in his place, he went to France;
but in 1733 he returned with a new commission
as governor. In 1740, with a large army of
French, Indians, and negroes, he made a second
expedition against the Chickasaws ; proceeding
up the Mississippi, he encamped near their towns,
and brought them to terms of peace. — Ckarle-
voix ; Holmes, I. 513; II. 16.
BIGELOW.
BIGELOW, TIMOTHY, colonel, died at Wor
cester March 31, 1790, aged 50. He was the son
of Daniel ; and he had an eminent son of his own
name. A blacksmith, he was the associate of the
leading patriots of his day. On hearing of the
battle of Lexington he marched at the head of
minute-men ; he marched up the Kennebcc against
Quebec, and was taken prisoner ; at the head of
the fifteenth Mass, regiment he was at Saratoga,
Rhode Island, Valley Forge, and West Point.
He was an original grantor of Montpclier. As
a benefactor of Leicester academy he is honored
by its friends. With an ardent temperament he
was dignified and graceful. — Lincoln's Hist.
Worcester.
BIGELOW, TIMOTHY, a lawyer, was born at
Worcester, Ms., April 30, 1767, the son of Col.
Timothy B., who served in Arnold's expedition to
Quebec, and commanded the 16th regiment in
the Revolutionary Avar, and probably a descendant
of John Bigelow, who lived in Watertown in
1642. After graduating at Harvard college in
1786, he studied law, and in 1789 commenced
the practice at Groton. For more than twenty
years from 1790 he was a distinguished member
of the legislature ; for eleven years he was the
speaker of the house of representatives. In his
politics he was ardently attached to the federal
party. Of the Hartford convention in 1814 he
was a member ; and grand master of masons. In
1807 he removed to Mcdford and kept an office
in Boston. He died May 18, 1821, aged 54.
His wife was the daughter of Oliver Prescott ;
one of his daughters married Abbott Lawrence.
Mr. Bigelow was a learned, eloquent, and popular
lawyer. It has been computed, that during a
practice of thirty-two years he argued not less
than fifteen thousand causes. His usual antag
onist was Samuel Dana. Over the multitudinous
assembly of six or seven hundred legislators of
Massachusetts he presided with great dignity and
energy. Of many literary and benevolent socie
ties he was an active member ; and in private Hie
was respected and beloved. He published an
oraiion before the Phi Beta Kappa society, 1797.
An extract of his eulogy on S. Dana is in the
historical collections. — Jennison; Maine Hist.
Coll. I. 363, 388, 409 ; Mass. Hist. Coll S. S. II.
235, 252.
BIGELOW, LEWIS, died in Peoria, Illinois,
Oct. 3, 1838, aged 53. He was a member of
congress from Massachusetts in 1821, and the
author of Digest of twelve vols. of Massachusetts
Reports.
BIGELOW, JONATHAN, died Jan. 26, 1854,
aged 90. Born in Boylston, he graduated at
Brown university in 1816, and was successively a
minister at Lubec in 1821; at Rochester, Mass.,
for twenty years from 1828 ; at Euclid, Oliio, in
1850, where his labors were greatly blessed. He
BIGELOW.
BINGHAM.
91
was regarded as a scholar, and a faithful min
ister.
BIGELOW, WILLIAM, died in Boston, Jan.
12, 1844, aged 70, a graduate of Harvard in
1794. He was a teacher, a wit, writer of po
etry, editor of several periodicals, and author of a
history of his native town, Natick, and of Sher-
burne. Unhappily he did not hold the mastery
over the appetites, which lead to a disregard of
the laws of temperance.
BIGOT, VINCENT, a Jesuit missionary, was em
ployed in 1697 by Gen. De Denonville to collect
a village of the Penobscot Indians, who had been
dispersed, in order to counteract the designs of
Gov. Andros. It would seem, that he had been
a missionary among these Indians near Penta-
goet, or Penobscot, for some years before, but
had been driven off by the disputes with a com
pany of fishermen. Bigot returned, says Den
onville, " at my request, in order to keep the
savages in our interest, which they had aban
doned." Such was the worldly policy, which
produced the Jesuit missions in Maine ; and the
Jesuits, by their vows of obedience being subject
to their superiors, were convenient instruments
of politic governors and adventurous generals.
Denonville, in a memoir which he prepared after
his return to France, ascribes much of the good
understanding which had been preserved with
the Abenaki Indians, to the influence of the two
father Bigots : the name of the younger was
James. Vincent chiefly resided at St. Francois,
among the Indians there assembled by the
governor of Canada. In an expedition of the
Abenakis against New England, Bigot accompa
nied them, as is related by Charlevoix under the
year 1721, from the lips of the missionary him
self, and witnessed their heroism in a battle, in
which at the odds of twenty English for one In
dian they fought a whole day, and without the
loss of a man strewed the field of battle with the
dead and put the English to flight. In this
story there is as much truth, as in father Biart's
miracle on the Penobscot. There was no such
battle in 1721, nor in any other year; though it
is true, that in 1724 many Indians with father
Rallc fell in battle at Norridgewock, Avithout the
loss of one of the English. Mr. Southey says :
" Let any person compare the relations of our Pro
testant missionaries with those of the Jesuits, Dom-
incians, Franciscans, or any other Ilomish order,
and the difference, which he cannot fail to per
ceive, between the plain truth of the one and the
audacious and elaborate mendacity of the other,
may lead him to a just inference concerning the
two churches." — Charlevoix, I. 531, 559; ill. 308;
Southey's Coll. II. 374 ; Maine Hist. Col. I. 328.
BIG WARRIOR, the principal chief of the
Creek nation, died Feb. 9, 1825. With a colos
sal body, he had a mind of great power. In
November, 1824, he and Little Prince and other
chiefs, signed the declaration of a council of the
tribe, asserting their reluctance to sell any more
land, and their claims to justice, and describing
the progress made in the arts of civil life. They,
who think the Indians incapable of civilization,
may be surprised to learn, that the upper Creeks
alone had manufactured thirty thousand yards of
' homespun.' He had always been a friend of the
whites, and fought for them in many a battle.
BILLINGS, ASAIIEL, died at Hardwick July
16, 1838, aged 100 ; an officer at the capture of
Burgoyne.
BILLINGS, BENJAMIN, M. D., died at Mans
field, Mass., Oct. 9, 1842, aged 82. He was a
surgeon in the Revolutionary army.
BINGHAM, WILLIAM, a senator of the United
States, was graduated at the college of Philadel
phia in 1768 ; he was agent for his country at
Martinique in the period of the Revolution ; in
1786 he was a delegate to congress from Pennsyl
vania; in 1795 he succeeded Mr. Morris as sena
tor. Of the measures of Mr. Adams' adminis
tration, he was a decided advocate. He died at
Bath, England, Feb. 7, 1804, aged 52. He mar
ried in 1780 Miss Willing of Philadelphia ; his
son, William, married in Montreal in 1822 ; a
daughter was married to a son of Sir Francis
Baring. He purchased about the year 1793 more
than two millions of acres of land in Maine, at an
eighth of a dollar per acre, or for more than
$250,000. In 1715 Mr. Greenleaf calculated the
cost to have amounted to forty-nine cents per
acre, when perhaps the average value might not
exceed seventeen cents. Mr. B. published " a
letter from an American on the subject of the re
straining proclamation," with strictures on Lord
Sheffield's pamphlets, 1784; description of cer
tain tracts of land in the district of Maine, 1793.
BINGHAM, CALEB, a bookseller of Boston,
died April 6, 1817, aged 60. A native of Salis
bury, Conn., he was the son of Daniel, and a de
scendant of Thomas of Norwich. By his mother
lie descended from R. Conant. He was gradu
ated at Dartmouth in 1782. He was the preceptor
of Moor's academy and afterwards for many years
a teacher in one of the principal schools of Boston.
Quitting the toils of instruction, he kept a large
book shop in Cornhill, Boston, and compiled for
the benefit of youth various books, some of which
went through many editions. For several years
he was a director of the State prison, in which
capacity he made great efforts for the mental im
provement of the younger criminals. In his pol
itics he belonged to the school of Mr. Jefferson.
He had a character of strict integrity and up
rightness, and he was an exemplary professor of
religion. A daughter, Sophia, married Col. Tow-
son of the army. He published an interesting
narrative, entitled, " the hunters ; " young lady's
92
BIXGIIAM.
BISSELL.
accidence, 1789; epistolary correspondence; the
Columbian Orator, 1797; Atala, a translation from
Chateaubriand. The sale of his school books in
editions and copies was as follows : young lady's
accidence, 20 eds., 100,000 : child's companion,
20 eds., 180,000; American preceptor, 04 eds.,
640,000 ; Geographical catechism, 22 eds., 100,000 ;
Columbian orator, 23 eds., 190,000 ; Juvenile let
ters, 7 eds., 25,000.
BIXGIIAM, JEREMIAH, died in Cornwall, Vt,
in 1842, aged 94. Born in Norwich, Conn., he
was a useful schoolmaster in Mass, and X. II. lie
was the first settler in C. : through his efforts a
church of eight persons was formed in 1785.
BIXGIIAM, SIBYL M., wife of Rev. Hiram
Bingham, died at Easthampton, Mass., in March,
1848, aged 55. She was a missionary at the
Sandwich Islands twenty years.
BLXKLEY, ADAM, colonel, died in David
son co., Tenn., Eeb. 28, 1837, aged 136. He
served during the Revolutionary war ; then mar
ried and had eleven children.
BIXXEY, AMOS, colonel, died in Boston Jan.
10, 1833, aged 60. Born at Hull, he never went
to school one day ; yet was intelligent and capa
ble. He was navy agent in Boston ; a Methodist,
and a man of charity.
BIKDSEYE, NATHAN, died Jan. 28, 1818,
aged 103. He graduated at Yale college in 1736,
and was ordained the fourth pastor of West Ha
ven, Oct., 1742. His predecessors were Samuel
Johnson, Jonathan Arnold, and Timothy Allen ;
his successor was Xoah "VVilliston. After being
in the ministry sixteen years, he was dismissed in
June, 1758, and retired to his patrimonial estate
at Oronoake in Stratford, where he resided sixty
years, till his death. About a hundred of his pos
terity were present at his funeral. The whole
number of his descendants \vas two hundred and
fifty-eight, of whom two hundred and six were
living. His wife, with whom he had lived sixty-
nine years, died at the age of 88. By her he had
twelve children, alternately a boy and a girl ; he
had seventy-six grandchildren ; one hundred and
sixty-three great-grandchildren ; and seven of the
fifth generation. Of all the branches of his numer
ous family, scattered into various parts of the United
States, not one of them had been reduced to
want. Most of them were in prosperous, all in
comfortable circumstances. In his last years he
occasionally preached, and once at Stratford to
great acceptance, after he was one hundred years
old. At last he became blind and deaf; yet his
retentive memory and sound judgment and excel
lent temper gave an interest to liis conversation
with his friends. He died without an enemy, in
the hope of a happy immortality. According to
his account of the Indians near Stratford, about
the year 1700 there were sixty or eighty fighting
men; in 1761 but three or four men were left.
However, the race was not exterminated ; for of
the emigrants there lived at Kent on the " Ous-
tonnoc river" one hundred and twenty-seven souls.
— Mass. Hist. Coll. x. 111.
BIRCH, THOMAS, died in Philadelphia Jan.
14, 1851, aged 72 ; an artist. He was distin
guished for landscape and marine painting, de
lighting in coast and river scenes.
BHICHARD, SOLOMON, M. D., an eminent
physician, died at Baltimore Xov. 30, 1836, aged
77.
BIRD, ROBERT M., M. D., died at Philadel
phia Jan. 23, 1854, aged 50. He was one of the
editors and proprietors of the North American ;
also a novel writer, author of Nick of the Woods
and Peter Pilgrim.
BISHOP, GEORGE, a Quaker, published " New
England judged, not by man's but by the Spirit
of the Lord, and the summe sealed up of New
England's persecutions, being a brief relation of
the sufferings of the Quakers in that part of
America from the beginning of the 5th m. 1656,
to the end of the 10th m. 1660 : wherein the
cruel whippings and scourgings, bonds and im
prisonments, &c., burning in the hand and cutting
off of ears, banishment upon pain of death, and
putting to death, &c., are shortly touched, 1661."
He gives an account of the execution of Wm.
Robinson, Marmaduke Stephcnson, Mary Dyer,
and William Ledea, for returning after being
banished as Quakers ; such was the bloody spirit
of persecution in men, who sought liberty of con
science in a wilderness. Among the banished
was Mary Fisher, who travelled as far as Adrian-
ople, and in the camp of the grand vizier delivered
her message " from the great God to the great
Turk." Ilutchinson remarks, " she fared better
among the Turks, than among the Christians." —
Hutch, i. 180.
BISHOP, ABRAHAM, died at New Haven April
28, 1844, aged 81. He graduated in 1778. He
was a zealous political writer on the democratic or
republican side, and for twenty years collector of
the port of New Haven. He published an oration,
1800 ; proofs of a conspiracy, 1802.
BISHOP, ROBERT II., D. D., died at College
Hill, Ohio, April 29, 1855, aged 78. Boru in
Scotland, he graduated at Edinburgh in 1794.
Coming to this country in 1801, he was a teacher
and professor in various seminaries, and president
of Miami university. At his death he was a pro
fessor in Farmer's college.
BISSELL, JOSIAII, a generous philanthropist,
died in April, 1831, aged 40. He was the son of
Deacon Josiah Bissell. About the year 1814 or
1815 he was one of a number of young men, who
removed from Pittsfield, Mass., to the new town
of Rochester, N. Y. The increase in the value of
the land, which he had purchased, made him rich ;
but his wealth he very liberally employed in pro-
BISSELL,
BLACKSTOXE.
93
moting the various benevolent operations of the
day. He expended many thousands of dollars.
Were his example followed by the rich, the face
of the world would soon be renewed. At great
expense he was the principal promoter of the
" Pioneer " line of stages, so called, which did not
run on Sunday, and which was established for the
sole purpose of preventing the desecration of the
holy day. His piety was ardent ; his courage un
shaken by the calumnies and rcvilings of men
•who preferred gain to godliness. As he had lived
for Christ, he died in the triumphs of faith.
When told that he would soon die, he said, " Why
should I be afraid to die ? The Lord knows I
have loved lu's cause more than all things eke ; I
have wronged no man ; I possess no man's goods ;
I am at peace with all men ; I have peace, and
trust, and confidence ; I am ready, willing, yea
anxious to depart." When told the next day that
he was better, he said, " I desire to go : my face
is set." " Tell my children to choose the Lord
Jesus Christ for their portion, and to serve him
better than I have done. Say to the church, — go
on gloriously. Say to impenitent sinners, — if
they wish to know the value of religion, look at a
dying bed."
BISSELL, EMERY, Dr., died in Xorwalk in
1849, aged GO ; a highly respectable physician.
BIXBY, SUSAX, the wife of M. II. Bixby, a
Baptist missionary in Maulmain, Burmah, died at
Burlington, Vt,, Aug. 18, 18,30, aged 26. She
went out to Burmah in 1833. She believed, that
more than one soul was won by her to God's ser
vice.
BLACK, JOHN, D. D., died in Pittsburgh,
Xov., 1849, aged 82 ; one of the early settlers of P.
BLACKBU11X, SAMUEL, general, died in Bath
county, Va., March 2, 1835, aged 77 ; an eminent
lawyer and legislator. By his Mill he liberated
forty-six slaves and provided for their transporta
tion to Liberia. Did he misjudge in thinking it
an act, required by humanity and justice, to re
store freedom to his slaves ?
BLACKBUHX, GIDEOX, D. D., died at Car-
linvllle, 111., Aug. 23, 1838, an eloquent preacher
for forty years. He organized some of the first
churches in the west. From 1803 to 1809 he
was for part of each year a missionary to the
Cherokces, establishing a school at Ilywassee, un
der the general assembly. He also set up a
school in Tennessee in 1806.
BLACK DOG, chief of the Osages,died March
24, 1848.
BLACK HAWK, an Indian chief, died Oct.
3, 1838, at his camp on the river DCS Moincs,
aged 73. His Indian name was Muck-ker-ta-me-
scheck-ker-kcrk.
BLACK HOOF, a chief of the Shawanese
tribe of Indians, died at Wapaghkonnetta in Sept.,
1831, aged 114 years. In war he had been a
formidable enemy, though the latter part of his
warfaring life had been devoted to the American
cause. He was at St. Clair's, Harmer's, and
Crawford's defeats, and perhaps was the last sur
vivor of those who were concerned in Braddock's
defeat.
BLACKMAX, ADAM, first minister of Strat
ford, Conn., was a preacher in Liecestershire and
Derbyshire, England. Mr. Goodwin writes the
name Blakeman. After he came to this country,
he preached a short time at Scituate, and then at
Guilford ; in 1640 he was settled at Stratford,
where he died in 1665. His successors were
Israel Chauncey, Timothy Cutler, Ilczekiah Gould,
Israliiah Wetmore, and Mr. Dutton, afterwards
professor at Yale. Xotwithstanding his name,
Mather represents him as for his holiness " purer
than snow, whiter than milk." With almost the
same name as Melancthon, he was a Melancthon
among the reformers of Xew Haven, but with less
occasion than the German, to complain, that " old
Adam was too hard for his young namesake."
Mr. Hooker so much admired the plainness and
simplicity of his preaching, that he said, if he
could have his choice, he should choose to live
and die under his ministry. His son, Benjamin,
a graduate of Harvard college in 1663, preached
for a time at Maiden, but left that place in 1678;
and afterwards at Scarborough : in 1683 he was a
representative of Saco, in which town he was a
large landholder, and owner of all the mill privi
leges on the east side of the river. His wife died
in 1715, in Boston. — Magnalia, in. 94; Fol-
sorri's Hist. Saco, 164.
BLACKMAX, ELEAZER, died at Hanover, Pa.,
Xov. 4, 1845, aged 85 ; a respected citizen, the
last survivor of the massacre of Wyoming.
BLACKSTOXE, WILLIAM, an Episcopal min
ister, and the first inhabitant of Boston, settled
there as early as 1625 or 1626 ; and there he
lived, when Gov. Winthrop arrived in the summer
of 1630 at Charlestown, the records of which
place say : " Mr. Blackstone, dwelling on the
other side of Charles river, alone, at a place by
the Indians called Shawmut, where he only had
a cottage, at or not far off the place, called Black-
stone's point, he came and acquainted the gover
nor of an excellent spring there, withal inviting
him and soliciting him thither ; whereupon, after
the death of Mr. Johnson and divers others, the
governor, with Mr. Wilson, and the greatest part
of the church, removed thither." Though Mr.
Blackstone had first occupied the peninsula, or
Trimountain ; yet all the right of soil, which the
charter could give, was held by the governor and
company. In their regard to equity they at a
court, April 1, 1633, agreed to give him fifty acres
near his house in Boston to enjoy forever. In
1634 he sold the company this estate, probably
for thirty pounds, which was raised by an assess-
94:
BLAIR.
ment of six shillings or more on each inhabitant.
With the proceeds he purchased cattle, and re
moved, probably in 1635, to Pawtucket river, now
bearing his name, Blackstone river, a few miles
north of Providence, near the southern part of
the town of Cumberland. He was married July
4, 1659, to widow Sarah Stephenson, who died
June, 1673. He died May 26, 1675, having lived
in New England fifty years. His residence was
about two miles north of Pawtucket, on the east
ern bank of the Blackstone river, and within a
few rods of Whipple's bridge. From his house
a long extent of the river could be seen to the
south. The cellar and well are at this day recog
nized. A small round eminence west of his house
is called Study Hill, from its being his place of re
tirement for study. His grave near his house was
marked by a large round white stone. — Holmes,
I. 377; 2 Coll. Hist. Soc., x. 171; ix. 174;
Savage's Winthrop, I. 44; Everett's Address,
Second Cent., 29.
BLAIR, JAMES, first president of William and
Mary college, Virginia, and a learned divine, died
Aug. 1, 1743, in a good old age. He was born
and educated in Scotland, where he obtained a
benefice in the Episcopal church. On account of
the unsettled state of religion, which then existed
in that kingdom, he quitted his preferments and
went into England near the end of the reign of
Charles II. The bishop of London prevailed on
him to go to Virginia, as a missionary, about the
year 1685 ; and in that colony by his exemplary
conduct and unwearied labors in the work of the
ministry he much promoted religion, and gained
to himself esteem and reputation. In 1689 he
was appointed by the bishop, ecclesiastical commis
sary, the lu'ghest office in the church which could
be given him in the province. This appointment,
however, did not induce him to relinquish the pas
toral office, for it was his delight to preach the
gospel of salvation.
Perceiving that the want of schools and semi
naries for literary and religious instruction would
in a great degree defeat the exertions, which were
making in order to propagate the gospel, he
formed the design of establishing a college at
Williamsburg. For this purpose he solicited
benefactions in tin's country, and by direction of
the assembly made a voyage to England in 1691
to obtain the patronage of the government. A
charter was procured in this year with liberal en
dowments, and he was named in it as the first
president ; but it does not appear that he entered
on the duties of his office before the year 1729,
from which period till 1742 he discharged them
with faithfulness. The college however did not
flourish very greatly during his presidency, nor
for many years afterwards. The wealthy farmers
were in the habit of sending their sons to Europe
for their education. After a life of near sixty
BLAIR.
years in the ministry, he died, and went to enjoy
;he glory for which he was destined. Mr. Blair
was for some time president of the council of the
:olony, and rector of Wiiliamsburg. He was a
faithful laborer in the vineyard of his Master, and
an ornament to his profession and to the several
offices, which he sustained. He published : our
Saviour's divine sermon on the mount, in divers
sermons and discourses, 4 vol. 8vo., London,
1742. Tlu's work is spoken of with high appro
bation by Dr. Doddridge, and by Dr. Williams in
his Christian preacher. — Introduction to the
above work ; Miller's Heir., II. 335, 336 ; New
and Gen. Biog. Diet. ; Burnefs Hist, own limes,
II. 129, 120.
BLAIR, SAMUEL, a learned minister in Penn
sylvania, died about 1751. He was a native of
Ireland. He came to America very early in life,
and was one of Mr. Tennent's pupils in his acad
emy at Neshaminy. About the year 1745 he
himself opened an academy at Fog's manor,
Chester county, with particular reference to the
study of theology as a science. He also took
the pastoral charge of the church in that place;
but such was his zeal to do good, that he did not
confine himself to his own society, but often dis
pensed the precious truths of heaven to destitute
congregations. His brother succeeded him in the
care of the church.
Mr. Blair was one of the most learned and able,
as well as pious, excellent, and venerable men of
his day. He was a profound divine and a most
solemn and impressive preacher. To his pupils
he was himself an excellent model of pulpit elo
quence. In his life he gave them an admirable
example of Christian meekness, of ministerial
diligence, of candor, and Catholicism, without a
dereliction of principle. He was eminently ser
viceable to the part of the country where he lived,
not only as a minister of the gospel, but as a
teacher of human knowledge. From his acad
emy, that school of the prophets, as it was fre
quently called, there issued forth many excellent
pupils, who did honor to their instructor, both as
scholars and Christian ministers. Among the
distinguished characters, who received their classi
cal and theological education at this seminary,
were his nephew, Alexander Gumming, Samuel
Davies, Dr. Rodgers of ' New York, and James
Finley, Hugh Henry, and a number of other re
spectable clergymen. Mr. Davies, after being
informed of his sickness, wrote respecting him
to a friend the following lines :
" 0, had you not the mournful news divulg'd,
My mind had still the pleasing drc;im indulg'd,
Still fancied Blair with health and vigor biess'd,
With some grand purpose lab'ring in his breast,
In studious thought pursuing truth divine;
Till the full demonstration round him shine;
Or from the sacred desk proclaiming loud
His master's message to the attentive crowd,
BLAIR.
BLAIR.
95
While heavenly truth with bright conviction glares.
And coward error shrinks and disappears,
While quick remorse the hardy sinner feels,
And Calvary's balm the bleeding conscience heals.''
lie published animadversions on the reasons of
A. Creaghead for quitting the Presbyterian church,
1742; a narrative of a revival of religion in sev
eral parts of Pennsylvania, 1744. — Miller's Rctr.
n. 343 ; Mass. Miss. Magazine, in. 363 ; JJa-
vics' Life.
BLAIR, JOHN, an eminent minister in Penn
sylvania, was ordained to the pastoral charge of
three congregations in Cumberland county as
early as 1742. These were frontier settlements
and exposed to depredations in the Indian wars,
and he was obliged to remove. He accepted a
call from Fog's manor in Chester county, in 1757.
This congregation had been favored with the
ministry of his brother, Samuel Blair ; and here
he continued about nine years, besides discharging
the duties of the ministry, superintending also a
flourishing grammar school, and preparing many
young men for the ministry. "When the presi
dency of New Jersey college became vacant, he
was chosen professor of divinity and had for some
time the charge of that seminary before the arri
val of Dr. Witherspoon. After this event he set
tled at "Walkill in the State of New York. Here
he labored a while with his usual faithfulness, and
finished his earthly course Dec. 8, 1771, aged
about 5 1 years.
He was a judicious and persuasive preacher,
and through his exertions sinners were converted
and the children of God edified. Fully convinced
of the doctrines of grace, he addressed immortal
souls with that warmth and power, which left a
witness in every bosom. Though he sometimes
wrote his sermons in full, yet his common mode
of preaching was by short notes, comprising the
general outlines. His labors were too abundant
to admit of more ; and no more was necessary to
a mind so richly stored, and so constantly im
pressed with the great truths of religion. For
his large family he had amassed no fortune, but
he left them what was infinitely better, a religious
education, a holy example, and prayers, which
have been remarkably answered. — His disposition
was uncommonly patient, placid, benevolent, dis
interested, and cheerful. He was too mild to
indulge bitterness or severity, and he thought that
truth required little else than to be fairly stated
and properly understood. Those, who could not
relish the savor of his piety, loved lu'm as an
amiable, and revered him as a great man. In his
last sickness he imparted his advice to the con
gregation, and represented to his family the
necessity of an interest in Christ. A few nights
before he died he said, "Directly I am going
to glory. My Master calls me ; I must be gone."
He published a few occasional sermons and tracts
in defence of important, truths. — Evang. Intellig.
I. 241-244.
BLAIR, SAMUEL, minister of Boston, the son
of Rev. Samuel Blair, died Sept. 24, 1818, aged
77. He was born at Fog's manor in 1741.
After being graduated at the college of New
Jersey in 1760, he was a tutor in that seminary.
He was settled as colleague with ] )r. Sewall over
the old south church in Boston Nov. 26, 1766.
He had been previously ordained as a Presbyte
rian. In the next year he was chosen president
of the college in New Jersey, as successor of
Finlcy, but he declined the appointment, in con
sequence of the ascertained willingness of Dr.
Withcrspoon to accept the place, which at first
he had rejected. By reason of ill health and
some difficulty respecting the half-way covenant,
Mr. Blair was dismissed Oct. 10, 1769. He never
resumed a pastoral charge. During the last
years of his life he resided at Germantown, where
he died suddenly. lie was succeeded by Mr.
Bacon and Mr. Hunt. Distinguished for talents
and learning, he was in preaching, with a feeble
voice, a master of the touching and pathetic. He
married in 1769 a daughter of Dr. Shippcn, the
elder, of Philadelphia : his daughter married
Charles Pierce. He published an oration on the
death of George II., 1761.— Wisner's Hist. 0. S.
CJntrcJi, 31 ; Green's Discourses, 392, 396.
BLAIR, JOHN, one of the associate judges of
the supreme court of the United States, died at
Williamsburg in Virginia August 31, 1800, aged
68. He was a judge of the court of appeals in
Virginia in 1787, at which time the legislature
of that State, finding the judiciary system incon
venient, established circuit courts, the duties of
which they directed the judges of the court of
appeals to perform. These judges, among whose
names are those of Blair, Pendleton, and Wythe,
remonstrated and declared the act unconstitu
tional. In the same year, he was a member of
the general convention, which formed the con
stitution of the United States. To that instrument
the names of Blair and Madison arc affixed as
the deputies from Virginia. In September, 1789,
when the government, which he had assisted in
establishing, had commenced its operation, he
was appointed by Washington an associate judge
of the supreme court, of which John Jay was
chief justice. He was an amiable, accomplished,
and truly virtuous man. He discharged with
ability and integrity the duties of a number of
the highest and most important public trusts;
and in these, as well as in the relations of private
life, his conduct was upright, and so blameless,
that he seldom or never lost a friend or made
an enemy. Through life he in a remarkable
manner experienced the truth of our Saviour's
declaration, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth ; " and at death lie illustrated
96
BLAKE.
BLANC.
the force of the exclamation, " Let me die the ! Lexington with the militia from Wrentham, and
death of the righteous, and let my last end be i served in the war.
like his."— Claypoole's Adv., Sept. 12, 1800;; BLAKE, JAMES, died at Dorchester May 22,
MarshaU,\. 216.
BLAKE, JOSEPH, governor of South Carolina,
1753, aged 65 ; the author of annals of Dor
chester.
BLAKE, THOMAS DAWES, doctor, died in Farm-
was a proprietary and a nephew of the famous
Admiral Blake. He succeeded Gov. Thomas Smith ington, Me., Nov. 20, 1849, aged 81, an eminent
in 1694, and Archdale in 1696, and was himself physician. He was a native of Boston,
succeeded by James Moore in 1700. During j BLAKELEY, JOHXSTOX, a captain in the navy,
Blake's administration a set of forty-one articles, [ ^-as born in Ireland in 1781. After lu's father's
called " the last fundamental constitutions," was j removal to Wilmington, N. C., he passed a few
sent from England by the Earl of Bath, the pala- j years in the university of that State. In the year
tine, and other patentees ; but the change in the j igQO he obtained a midshipman's warrant. Ap-
government was never confirmed by the Carolina | pointed to the command of the Wasp, in 1814
assembly. Mr. Blake died in 1700. Although j he captured and burnt the Reindeer, after an
a dissenter, yet with a highly honorable spirit of action of nineteen minutes, with the loss of twenty-
liberality he prevailed on the assembly to settle one men ; the enemy lost sixty-seven. In an
on the Episcopal minister of Charleston 150
pounds a year, and to furnish him with a house,
glebe, and two servants. A very different, an in
tolerant and persecuting spirit was manifested
action Sept. 1, 1814, the Avon struck to him,
though the approach of other vessels prevented
his taking possession of her. The last account
of the Wasp is, that she was spoken off the West-
towards the dissenters in the subsequent admin- ] ern Isles. In what manner Blakeley died is,
istration of Johnson. — Univ. Hist. XL. 427. j therefore, not known. His Avife and an infant
BLAKE, JAMKS, a preacher, died Nov. 17, i daughter survived. The legislature of North
1771, aged 21. He was a native of Dorchester,
and was graduated at Harvard in 1769. In col
lege he was distinguished by the sweetness of
his temper and the purity of his morals. He
conciliated the love of his fellow students, and
the high approbation of his instructors. After
pursuing for some time his theological studies
under the care of Mr. Smith of Weymouth, he
began with reluctance at a very early period the
Carolina passed the resolution that this child " be
educated at the expense of the State."
BLAKEMAX, ADAM, first minister of Strat
ford, died in 1665. His son Benjamin, a graduate
of Harvard in 1663, was a preacher at Maiden.
The catalogue has the name Blackman.
BLANC, VIXCEXT LE, a traveller in Asia, Af
rica, and America, from the age of twelve to sixty,
gives an account of Canada in his book, entitled,
important work of the ministry. A small volume « Les Voyages fameux, &c.," 1648. Though his
of his sermons, which was published by his friends j narrative is in some respects valuable, yet it is
after his death, displays a strength of mind and j confused, with little regard to dates, and tolerant
a knowledge of theoretical and practical divinity j towards fables. The author speaks of the giant
very uncommon in a person so young. His ser- j stature of the Indians. — Charlevoix, I. 4.
mons also indicate a warmth of pious feeling, j BLANC, JEAX LE, chief of the Outaouais, or
honorable to his character. — P>'ff- to his Serm. Ottaway Indians, — called Lc Blanc, because his
Coll. Hist. Soc. ix. 189.
mother was as white as a French woman, — was
BLAKE, GEOUGE, died at Boston Oct. 6, 1841, a chief of talents, and difficult to be won by the
aged 73. A graduate of 1789, he was a lawyer ! governor. He rescued the Father Constantin,
of eminence, and United States attorney for Mas- -who had fallen into the hands of the Indians,
sachusetts. He published an oration at Boston | In 1707 he appeared before the governor at Mont-
July 4, 1795 ; masonic eulogy on Washington, real and excused his tribe for some disorders.
1800. j This chief, whom Charlevoix denominates a bad
BLAKE, FRAXCIS, brother of the preceding, I Christian and a great drunkard, was asked by
a graduate of 1789, died at Worcester in 1817. j Frontenac, of what he supposed the water of
He published orations, 1796 and 1812, and exam- j life, or rum, for which he was so greedy, was
ination of embargo laws, 1808.
composed; he replied, — "It is an extract of
BLAKE, JOHN, general, died in Bangor Jan. tongues and hearts ; for Avhen I have been drink-
21, 1842, aged 89; — a soldier of the Revolution. • ing it, I fear nothing and talk marvellously."
BLAKE, CALEB, minister of Westford forty- ! Hc might have added, — " It is the essence of folly
five years, died May 11, 1847, aged 85. He was ! and madness; for when I have swallowed it, I
a graduate of Harvard in 1784. He published j play the part of a fool and a madman." Yet the
a sermon before a charitable socictv, 1815.
governor, De Callieres, was very careful never to
BLAKE, ELEAZAR, deacon, died in Ilindgc in j send away a chief until after " regaling " him.
Oct., 1852, aged 95. He was in the battle of j Thus, from policy and covetousness, have drunk-
BLAND.
BLEECKER.
97
ards had the poison dealt out to them from age
to age. — Charlei-oix, II. 274, 311; m. 30G.
BLAND, RICHARD, a political writer, died in
1778. He was for some years a principal mem
ber of the house of burgesses in Virginia. In
17G8 he was one of the committee to remonstrate
with parliament on the subject of taxation; in
177.3 one of the committee of correspondence;
in 1774 a delegate to Congress. He was again
chosen a deputy to Congress Aug. 12, 1775 ; in
returning thanks for this appointment he spoke
of himself as " an old man, almost deprived of
sight, whose great ambition had ever been to
receive the plaudit of his country, whenever he
should retire from the public stage of life." The
honor, which cometh from God, would have been
a higher aim. Though he declined the appoint
ment from old age, he declared he should ever
be animated " to support the glorious cause, in
which America was engaged." Francis L. Lee
was appointed in his place. Mr. Wirt speaks
of him as " one of the most enlightened men in
the colony ; a man of finished education and of
the most unbending habits of application. His
perfect mastery of every fact connected with the
settlement and progress of the colony had given
him the name of the Virginia antiquary. He was
a politician of the first class, a profound logician,
and was also considered as the first writer in the
colony." He published in 1766 an inquiry into
the rights of the British colonies, in answer to a
pamphlet published in London in the preceding
year, entitled, regulations lately made concerning
the colonies, and taxes imposed on them, consid
ered. This was one of the three productions of
Virginia during the controversy with Great Britain ;
the other writers were Arthur Lee and Jefferson.
Rewrote also in 1758 on the controversy between
the clergy and the assembly concerning the to
bacco tax for the support of the clergy. — Jeffer
son's Notes, qu. 23 ; Wirt's Life of Henry, 46.
BLAND, THEODORIC, a worthy patriot and
statesman, died at New York while attending con
gress, June 1, 1790, aged 48. He was a native
of Virginia, and descended from an ancient and
respectable family. He was bred to the science
of physic; but upon the commencement of the
American war he quitted the practice, and took
an active part in the cause of his country. He
soon rose to the rank of colonel, and had the
command of a regiment of dragoons. While in
the army he frequently signalized himself by bril
liant actions. In the year 1780 he was elected
to a seat in congress. He continued in that body
three years, .the time allowed by the confedera
tion. After the expiration of this term he again
returned to Virginia, and was chosen a member
of the State legislature. He opposed the adop
tion of the constitution, believing it to be repugnant
to the interests of his country, and was in the
13
minority that voted against its ratification. But,
when it was at length adopted, he submitted to
the voice of the majority. He was chosen to rep
resent the district in which he lived, in the first
congress under the constitution. When the sub
ject of the assumption of the State debts was
debated in March, 1790, he made a speech in
favor of the assumption, differing in respect to
this measure from all his colleagues. In this
speech he expressed his attachment to the con
stitution as amended, though he wished for more
amendments, and declared his dread of silent
majorities on questions of great and general con
cern. He was honest, open, candid; and his
conduct was such in his intercourse with mankind,
as to secure universal respect. Though a legis
lator, he was not destitute of a genius for poetry.
— Gazette of the U. S., April 17 and June 5,
1790.
BLAND, THEODORIC, died at Annapolis Nov.
16, 1846, aged 69. For twenty-two years he was
chancellor of Maryland.
BLATCHFORD, SAMUEL, D. D., minister of
Lansingburg, N. Y., died March 17, 1828, aged
60. He was a native of Plymouth, England,
wrhere he was educated and became a dissenting
minister. In 1795 he emigrated to the United
States : after a residence of one year at Bedford,
Westchester county, he succeeded Dr. Dwight
at Greenfield ; subsequently he was the minister
at Bridgeport, whence he was invited to Lansing-
burg in 1804. — His son, Henry Blatchford, who
had been pastor of the Branch church, Salem,
Mass., and thence removed to Lansingburg, died
in Maryland Sept., 1822, aged 34. — Dr. Blatch
ford was a sound scholar and theologian, and as
a pastor kind, persuasive, and often eloquent in
his manner. He was endeared to his acquaint
ance by his estimable virtues and his Christian
graces.
BLATCHFORD, JOHN, D. D., the son of the
preceding, died at the house of his son-in-law, M.
Collins, in St. Louis, April 8, 1855, aged 56. He
was for some years the minister of the Presbyte
rian church in Chicago. His last residence was
at Quincy, Illinois.
BLAUVELT, ISAAC, a minister, died in New
Rochelle April, 1841, aged 90, in the peace and
hope of the gospel.
BLEDSOE, JESSE, died in Kentucky June 30,
1837. He may be held up as a beacon and a
warning to others. A lawyer, a senator of the
United States in 1813, professor of law in the
university, chief justice of the supreme court of
Kentucky ; of talents, eloquence, and unequalled
influence for a time, he yet in consequence of
intemperance became a miserable outcast and
wanderer.
BLEECKER, ANN ELIZA, a lady of some liter
ary celebrity in New York, died Nov. 23, 1783,
98
BLEECKER.
BLISS.
aged 31. She was the daughter of Mr. Brandt
Schuylcr, and was born in October, 1 752. From
early life she was passionately fond of books. In
1769 she was married to John I. Bleecker, Esq.,
of New Ilochelle, and removed to Poughkeepsie,
and shortly afterwards to Tomhanic, a beautiful,
solitary village, eighteen miles above Albany,
where she lived a number of years in great tran
quillity and happiness. But the approach of Bur-
goync's army in 1777 drove her from her retreat
in circumstances of terror. She fled on foot with
her two little daughters, and obtained shelter for
the night at Stone Arabia. In a few days she
lost the youngest of her children. This affliction
cast a gloom over her mind ; and possessing an
excessive sensibility, though not unacquainted
with religious consolations, she was unable to sup
port the Aveight of her troubles. After the peace
she revisited New York to awaken afresh the
scenes of her childhood ; but the dispersion of
her friends, and the desolation, which everywhere
presented itself to her sight, overwhelmed her.
She returned to her cottage, where she died. She
was the friend of the aged and infirm, and her
kindness and benevolence to the poor of the vil
lage, where she lived, caused her death to be deeply
lamented. After her death, some of her writings
were collected and published, in 1793, under
the title of the posthumous works of Ann Eliza
Bleecker, in prose and verse. To this work are
prefixed memoirs of her life, written by her
daughter, Margaretta V. Faugeres. There is
also added to the volume a collection of Mrs.
Faugeres' essays. — Hardies Biog. Diet. ; Spec.
Amer. Poetry, I. 211-220.
BLEECKER, ANTHONY, a poet, was born about
the year 1778 and educated at Columbia college
in the city of New York. The circumstances of
his family constrained him to study law, though
he never succeeded as an advocate in consequence
of an unconquerable diffidence, a somewhat rare
failing in a lawyer. Yet was he respected in his
profession for his learning and integrity. After
a short illness he died in the spring of 1827,
aged 49 years. For tlu'rty years the periodical
literature of New York and Philadelphia was
constantly indebted to his fancy and good taste.
— Spec. Amer. Poetry, n. 381-386.
BLEECKER, HARMANUS, died in Albany in
July, 1849, aged 70. lie was the son of Jacob
B., a respected merchant, and a descendant of
John Jansen B. As a lawyer he was associated
with Theodore Sedgwick. As a member of con
gress he opposed the war of 1812. Mr. Van
Buren appointed him minister to Holland. With
the Dutch language he was perfectly acquainted ;
in Holland he married a Dutch lady of beauty
and accomplishments. He was himself of pleas
ing manners and great dignity : and he had a
deep sense of justice and an unfailing regard to it.
BLENNERHASSETT, HARMAN, died in the
island of Guernsey, in 1831, aged 63. His widow,
Margaret, died in New York in utter poverty in
1842. He was an Englishman of wealth and
well educated, who came to Marietta in 1797.
He bought a plantation of one hundred and seventy
acres on a beautiful island in. the Ohio, fourteen
miles below the Muskingum, in Virginia, now
known by his name. His mansion and improve
ments cost 40,000 dollars. He was a man of
science and taste, and his wife was most beautiful
and accomplished, skilled in French and Italian.
His home was a scene of enchantment. But now,
in 1806, came the destroyer, Aaron Burr, and
persuaded him to engage in his projects. In con
sequence he fled from the island; was tried for
treason; and had heavy debts to pay, contracted
for Burr. He next lived ten years in Mississippi,
and thence removed to Montreal and England.
Dr. Hildreth has published the Deserted Isle,
being verses written by his wife. He thinks the
unhappy man was an Infidel, and " lacked one thing,
without which no man can be happy : a firm be
lief in the overruling providence of God." —
Hildreth's Biog. Memoirs.
BLINMAN, RICHARD, first minister of New
London, Connecticut, was a native of Great Britain,
and was minister at Chepstow in Monmouthshire.
On his arrival in this country in 1642 it was his
intention to settle with his friends, who accom
panied him, at Green's harbor, or Marshfield, near
Plymouth. But some difficulty arising in that
place, he removed to Cape Ann, which the general
court in the year above mentioned established a
plantation and called Gloucester. He removed
to New London in 1648. Here he continued in
the ministry about ten years, and was then suc
ceeded by GershomBulklcy. In 1658 he removed
to New Haven, and after a short stay in that
town returned to England. On his way he stop
ped in 1659 at Newfoundland, where he declined
to settle. Johnson wrote his name Blindman;
Trumbull, Blynman. — Having lived to a good
old age, he happily concluded at the city of Bris
tol a life spent in doing good. A short time be
fore his death he published in answer to Mr.
Danvers a book entitled, an essay tending to issue
the controversy about infant baptism, 18mo., 1674.
— Nonconform. Memor. in. 177; Coll. Hist. Soc.
ix. 39 ; Savage's Wintlirop, II. 64 ; TrumbulVs
Conn. I. 293/310, 314, 522.
BLISS, JAMES C., M. D., died in New York
July 31, 1855, aged 64. Born in Bennington, he
graduated at the college of physicians in New
York in 1815, and then commenced his practice
of forty years. As a physician and Christian he
was eminent ; in the families of ministers and of
the poor his services were gratuitous. He was a
member of the south Dutch church, then an elder
in the Bleecker street church. He joined the
BLISS.
young men's missionary society ; was correspond
ing secretary of the New York religious tract
society, for which he prepared in one year seventy-
five religious tracts ; and was one of the founders
of the American tract society, and one of the
executive committee, most diligent for thirty years.
His last tear fell in hearing his daughter repeat
the text, " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,"
&C. — N. T. Observer, Aug. 16, 1855.
BLISS, JOHX, colonel, an officer of the Revo
lution, died in Springfield in 1804, descended from
Thomas Bliss of Hartford, who died in 1640, and
from Nathaniel of Springfield. — He was a sen
ator and a judge of the court of common pleas.
His daughter was the mother of Judge Oliver B.
Morris of Springfield.
BLISS, GEORGE, LL. D., died at Springfield
March 8, 1830, aged 65. He was a son of Moses
B. of S. and Abigail Mctcalf, a daughter of Wil
liam M. of Lebanon. His father died July 4,
1814, aged 78. G. Bliss's three wives were Han
nah, daughter of Dr. John Clark of Lebanon;
Mary Lathrop of New Haven, and Abigail, daugh
ter of Rev. David S. Rowland. He had four
children by his first wife and four by his third.
His brother Moses died in S. in 1849, aged 75.
He had ten children.
BLISS, JOHN, colonel, died at St. Augustine Nov.
22, 1854, aged G6. A graduate of Cambridge in
1808, he was an officer, wounded at Niagara falls
in 1814 ; he was an instructor and commander of
cadets at West Point from 1813 to 1819. His
military office he resigned in 1837 ; he lived at
Buffalo.
BLODGET, SAMUEL, remarkable for enter
prise, died in Aug., 1807, aged 84. He was born
at Woburn, Mass., and resided many years at
Haverhill. Before the Revolution he was a judge
of the court of common pleas for the county of
Hillsborough, N. II. He was engaged in the ex
pedition against Louisbourg in 1745. Having
raised in 1783, by a machine of his invention, a
valuable cargo from a ship sunk near Plymouth,
he was induced to go to Europe for the purpose
of recovering from the deep the treasures buried
therein. In Spain he met with discouragement.
His project for raising the Royal George was no
better received in England. After his return he
set up a duck manufactory in 1791 ; and in 1793
he removed to N. II. and commenced the canal,
which bears his name, around Amoskcag falls.
He expended much money without completing the
work, became embarrassed, and for a time suf
fered imprisonment for debt. Judge B. was rig
idly temperate. At all seasons he slept in a
large room, with open windows. He intended to
live, in consequence of the course he pursued,
until he was ajt least 100 years old ; but he died
of a consumption, occasioned by his exposure in
travelling from Boston to Haverhill in a cold
BOARDMAN.
99
night. His projects for public improvements un
happily involved him in great pecuniary losses.
He wanted more skill. — Mass. Hist. Coll., n. s.
IV. 158.
BLOOMFIELI), JOSEPH, governor of New
Jersey, was probably a descendant of Thomas
Bloomfield, who lived at Ncwbury, Mass., in
1638 and afterwards removed to New Jersey.
He was a soldier of the Revolution. He suc
ceeded Richard Howell as governor in 1801, and
was succeeded in that office by Aaron Ogdcn in
1812. In the war, which commenced in this year,
he was a brigadier-general. He died at Burling
ton Oct. 3, 1823. Gen. Bloomfield was a firm
republican in politics ; in congress a sound legis
lator ; a brave soldier in the field ; and in private
life an excellent man. — Farmer's Collect., n.
App. 91.
BLOUNT, WILLIAM, governor of the territory
south of the Ohio, was appointed to that office
in 1790. The first governor of Tennessee under
the constitution in 1796 was John Sevier. While
a member of the senate of the U. S. from Ten
nessee, Mr. Blount was expelled from that body
in July, 1797, for being concerned in a project of
the British to conquer the Spanish territories, and
instigating the Creeks and Cherokees to lend their
aid. He died at Knoxvillc March 26, 1800,
aged 56.
BLOUNT, WILLIE, governor of Tenn. from
1809 to 1815, died at Nashville Sept. 10, 1835,
aged 68.
BLOWERS, THOMAS, minister in Beverly,
Massachusetts, died June 17, 1729, aged 51. He
was bom at Cambridge Aug. 1, 1677. His
mother was the sister of Andrew Belcher. He
was graduated at Harvard college in 1695, and
was ordained pastor of the first church in Beverly
Oct. 29, 1701. He was a good scholar, and an
excellent minister ; of sincere and ardent piety ;
of great meekness and sweetness of temper ; of
uncommon stability in his principles and steadi
ness in his conduct. He was a vigilant, prudent
pastor, and a close, pathetic preacher. He pub
lished a sermon on the death of Rev. Joseph Green
of Salem village, 1715. — A7. E. Weekly Journal,
June 23, 1729 ; Foxcrqft's Funeral Sermon.
BLOWERS, SAMPSON SALTER, died at Hali
fax, N. S., Oct. 25, 1842, aged 100 years and 6
months. A graduate of Harvard in 1763, he
survived all who graduated before him. Born in
Boston, he studied law under Gov. Hutchinson.
In 1770 he was counsel with Adams and Quincy
in the trial of the British soldiers. As a tory he
was sent to Halifax. He was raised to the su
preme bench in 1795, and was presiding judge
from 1801 to 1833. His name was in the pro
scribing act of Mass, in 1778.
BOARDMAX, GEORGE D., an eminent Bap
tist missionary to Burmah, died Feb. 11, 1831.
100
BOGARDUS.
BOLLMAX.
BOGARDUS, EYERARDUS, the first minister
of the Reformed Dutch church in New York,
came early to this country, though the exact time
of his arrival is not known. The records of this
church begin with the year 1639. He was or
dained and sent forth, it is believed, by the classis
of Amsterdam, which had for a number of years
the superintendence of the Dutch churches in
New Netherlands, or the province of New York.
The tradition is, that Mr. Bogardus became blind
and returned to Holland some time before the sur
render of the colony to the British in 1664. lie
was succeeded by John and Samuel Megapolen-
sis. — Christian's Mag. N. Y. I. 368.
BOGARDUS, ROBERT, general, nearly fifty
years at the bar of New York, died Sept. 12,
1841, aged 70. He was a State senator.
BOGART, ABRAHAM, died in the poor-house
in Maury county, Tenn., June 14, 1833, aged 118
years, — a native of Delaware. He never drank
spirits and he never was sick.
BOLLAN, WILLIAM, agent of Massachusetts
in Great Britain, died in England in 1776. He
was born in England, and came to this country
about the year 1740. In 1743 he married a most
amiable and accomplished lady, the daughter of
Gov. Shirley, who died at the age of 25. Mr.
Bollan was a lawyer of eminence, in profitable
business, was advocate general, and had just re
ceived the appointment of collector of customs
for Salem and Marblehead, Avhen he was sent to
England in 1745 as agent to solicit a reimburse
ment of the expenses in the expedition against
Cape Breton. It was a difficult, toilsome agency
of three years ; but he conducted it with great
skill and fidelity, and obtained at last a full repay
ment of the expenditure, being 183,649 pounds
sterling. He arrived at Boston Sept. 19, 1748,
with 653,000 ounces of silver and ten tons of cop
per, reckoned at 175,000 pounds sterling, or
nearly 800,000 dollars. He was again sent to
England as the agent : but it appears from a let
ter, which he wrote in 1752 to the secretary of
Massachusetts, that for his three years' services
the colony, after seven years from his appoint
ment, voted him the sum of only 1500 pounds
sterling. He had supported his family, and ad
vanced of his money in the agency business as
much as fifteen hundred pounds ; he had aban
doned a profitable business, which would have
yielded him double the amount voted him ; and
besides this he had passed his years in the degra
dation of " a continual state of attendance and
dependence on the motions and pleasures of the
great," standing alone too without any support or
assistance. After Gov. Shirley was superseded,
attempts were made to displace Mr. Bollan, not
withstanding his address and talents, and his
long, faithful, and important services. His con
nection with Shirley and his attachment to the
Episcopal form of worship awakened prejudices.
Dissatisfaction had also been occasioned by his
making some deductions from the money, granted
in 1759, as a reimbursement to the province, and
his neglecting to correspond with the general
court. He was dismissed in 1762, and Jasper
Mauduit, whose learning; and talents were not ad
equate to the office, was appointed in his place.
i In 1768 or 1769 he obtained from Alderman
Bcckford copies of thirty-three letters of Gov.
Bernard, which he sent to Massachusetts, being
employed as agent by the council, though not by
the general court. For this act Lord North ex
claimed against him in parliament ; but it restored
his lost popularity. Mr. Hancock declared in
the house of representatives, that there Avas no
man, to whom the colonies were more indebted.
In 1775 he exerted himself in recommending to
the mother country conciliatory measures. Sev
eral of his letters and writings are in the Mass.
Historical Collections, vols. I. and Yl. In one of
them he maintains, that the boundary of Nova
Scotia to the north is the river of Canada. He
published a number of political tracts, among
which are the following : importance of Cape Bre
ton truly illustrated, Lond., 1746; colonioc Angli-
canaB illustratae, 1762 ; the ancient right of the
English nation to the American fishery examined
and stated, 1764 ; the : .utual interests of Great
Britain and the American colonies considered,
1765 ; freedom of speech and writing upon public
affairs considered, 1766 ; the importance of the
colonies in North America and the interests of
Great Britain with regard to them considered,
1766 ; epistle from Timoleon, 1768 ; continued
corruption of standing armies, 1768 ; the free
Briton's memorial, in defence of the right of elec
tion, 1769 ; a supplemental memorial, on the ori
gin of parliaments, &c., 1770 ; a petition to the
king in council Jan. 26, 1774, with illustrations
intended to promote the harmony of Great Brit-
ian and her colonies. This petition he offered as
agent for the council of the province of Massa
chusetts. — Ilutchinson's Mass. II. 436 ; Minofs
Contin. II. 109, 110; Eliot.
BOLLES, Lucius, D. D., died in Boston Jan.
5, 1844, aged 64. He had been pastor of the
first Baptist church, Salem, and was many years
secretary of the Baptist board of foreign missions.
He published a sermon before the association,
1822.
BOLLMAN, ERICH, M. D., was born at Hoya,
in Hanover, in Europe, and was well educated,
receiving his medical degree at Gottingen. He
settled as a physician at Paris. In 1794 he engaged
in the project of releasing La Fayette from the prison
of Olmutz. His coadjutor was Francis Iluger,
an American, son of Col. Hugcr of South Caro-
BOMFORD.
BONYTIIOX.
'I'O'l
lina. He found means through the surgeon to
communicate with the prisoner. As La Fayctte
was riding out for his health, Nov. 8, the guard
was attacked and overcome : the prisoner and his
deliverers galloped off, but missing the way, were
soon captured. Dr. Bollman was confined twelve
months and then banished. After ho came to the
United States, he was implicated in the conspir
acy of Burr. On his return from South America
he died at Jamaica of the yellow fever Dec. 9,
1821. He published paragraphs on banks, 1810 ;
improved system of the money concerns of the
union, 1816 ; strictures on the theories of Mr.
Kicardo. — Jennison.
BOMFORD, GEORGE, colonel, died in Boston,
March 25, 1828. He was distinguished in the
war with Great Britain. He perfected the ord
nance department.
BOMMASEEN, an Indian chief, signed the
treaty of Pcmaquid in Maine Aug. 11, 1693, with
Madockawondo and other sagamores. It was one
part of the agreement that, as the French had
instigated wars, the Indians should abandon the
French interest. The treaty is given at length
by Mather. The next year, after various barbari
ties at Kittery and elsewhere, in which he was
suspected to have been concerned, Bommaseen
presented himself with two other Indians at
Pcmaquid, " as loving as bears and as harmless
as tigers," pretending to have just come from
Canada ; when Capt. March made him prisoner
Nov. 19, and sent him to Boston, where he was
kept a year or two in gaol. In 1696 one of the
ministers of Boston visited Bommaseen at his re
quest in prison, when the savage inquired, whether
it was true, as the French had taught him, that
the Virgin Mary was a French lady, and that it
was the English who murdered Jesus Christ, and
whether he required his disciples " to revenge
Ins quarrel upon the English ? " The minister
gave him suitable religious instruction, and taught
him how to obtain the pardon of sins from God,
Avithout paying beaver skins for it to a priest ;
which instruction was received with strong ex
pressions of gratitude. This is the serious nar
rative of Cotton Mather. Unless the Indian
invented the story, what a proof is here furnished
of the depravity of the French teachers of the
savages ! After his liberation Bommaseen mani
fested his humanity by saving the life of Rebecca
Taylor, a captive, whom her master was endeav
oring to hang with his belt near Montreal in
1696. — Ilulchinson, II. 149 ; Magnal. VII. 22.
BOND, THOMAS, M. D., a distinguished physi
cian and surgeon, died March 26, 1784, aged 72.
He was born in Maryland in 1712. After study
ing with Dr. Hamilton, he spent a considerable
time in Paris. On his return he commenced the
practice of medicine at Philadelphia about the
year 1734. With his brother, Dr. Phineas Bond,
he attended the Pennsylvania hospital, in which
the first clinical lectures were delivered by him.
He assisted in founding the college and academy.
Of a literary society, composed of Franklin, Bar-
tram, Godfrey, and others, he was a member in
1743, and an officer of the philosophical society
from its establishment. The annual address be
fore the society was delivered by him in 1782, on
the rank of man in the scale of being. For half
a century he had the first practice in Philadel
phia. Though disposed to pulmonary consumption,
by attention to diet, and guarding against the
changes of the weather, and the obstruction of
blood when his lungs were affected, he lived to a
good old age. His daughter, married to Thomas
Lawrence, died in 177 1. His brother, Dr. Phineas
Bond, who studied at Leyden, Paris, Edinburgh,
and London, and was an eminent practitioner in
Philadelphia, died in June, 1773, aged 56. lie
published in the London Medical Inquiries and
Observations, vol. I., an account of a worm in the
liver, 1754; on the use of Peruvian bark in
scrofula, vol. II. — Thacher's Med. Biog. ; Ham-
say's Rev. Med. 37 ; Miller I. 312.
BOND, THOMAS F,, I). D., editor of the New
York Christian Advocate and Journal, died March
19, 1856, aged 74. A native of Maryland, he
joined the Methodist church in Baltimore in 1805 ;
and there he lived many years in various offices
of trust. He was respected and beloved.
BONNYCASTLE, CHARLES, died in Oct., 1840,
aged 48, the son of John B. of England, He was
the author of algebra ; professor of mathematics
in the university of Virginia ; and published a
work on inductive geometry.
BONYTHON, RICHARD, captain, died before
1653. He was one of the first settlers of Saco,
had a grant of one hundred and twenty acres in
Saco, 1629. He was one of the commissioners
under Gorges for the government of the province
of Maine, then called New Somersetshire, in 1636.
The first meeting was held at Saco March 25,
which was the first day of the year. When
Gorges had obtained from the king a new charter
of the province, Bonython was named one of the
council, with Vines, Jocelyn, and others, in 1640.
The last court under under this authority was
held at Wells in 1646. He lived in a house on
the left bank of the Saco, just below the falls.
His name is written Benython by Sullivan and
Bonighton by Farmer and Willis. He was an
upright and worthy magistrate ; even against his
own son he once entered a complaint. This son
was John Bonython, who was outlawed for con
temning the summons of court and was guilty of
various outrages ; he died in 1684. — His ungov
ernable temper procured him the title of the
sagamore of Saco in the couplet proposed for his
102
BOOGE.
gravestone, which represents him as having gone
to the evil spirit of the Indians :
" Here lies Bonython, the sagamore of Saco ;
He lived a rogue and died a knave and went to Ilobomocko."
Although he left many children, yet his name is
extinct in Maine and probably in New England.
— Folsom's Hist. Saco, 113, 115; Sullivan, 368.
BOOGE, PUBLICS V., died in Oneida co., Xew
York, Sept. 28, 1836, aged 72 ; the oldest minister
in the presbytery of O. A graduate of Yale in
1787, he preached much in New England.
BOONE, DAXIEL, colonel, one of the first set
tlers of Kentucky, died in Missouri Sept. 26, 1820,
aged nearly 90. While he was young, his parents,
who came from Bridgeworth, Eng., removed from
Pennsylvania or Virginia to the Yadkin river in
North Carolina. He was early addicted to hunt
ing in the woods ; in the militia he attained to
the rank of colonel. In 1769, in consequence of
the representation of John Finley, who had pen
etrated into the wilderness of Kentucky, he was
induced to accompany him in a journey to that
country. He had four other companions, John
Stuart, Joseph Holden, James Money, and William
Cool, with whom he set out May 1. On the 7th
of June they arrived at the Red river, a branch
of the Kentucky ; and here from the top of a
hill they had a view of the fertile plains, of which
they were in pursuit. They encamped and re
mained in this place till Dec. 22, when Boone
and Stuart were captured by the Indians near
Kentucky river. In about a week they made
their escape ; but on returning to their camp, they
found it plundered, and deserted by their com
panions, who had gone back to Carolina. Stuart
was soon killed by the Indians ; but Boone was
joined by his brother, and they remained and
prosecuted the business of hunting during the
winter, without further molestation. His brother
going home for supplies in May 1770, he re
mained alone in the deep solitude of the western
wilderness until his return with ammunition and
horses July 27th. During this period this wild
man of the woods, though greeted every night
with the howlings of wolves, was delighted in
his excursions with the survey of the beauties of
the country, and found greater pleasure in the
solitude of wild nature, than he could have found
amid the hum of the most elegant city. With
his brother he traversed the country to Cumber
land river. It was not until March, 1771, that
he returned to his family, resolved to conduct
them to the paradise which he had explored.
Having sold his farm, he set out with his own
and five other families Sept. 25, 1773, and was
joined in Powell's valley by forty men. After
passing over two mountains, called Powell's and
Walden's, through which, as they ranged from
the northeast to the southwest, passes were found,
BOONE.
and approaching the Cumberland, the rear of the
company was attacked by the Indians on the 10th
of October, when six men Avere killed, among
whom was the eldest son of Col. Boone. One
man was also wounded, and the cattle were scat
tered. This disaster induced them to retreat
about forty miles to the settlement on Clinch
river, where he remained with his family, until
June 6, 1774, when, at the request of governor
Dunmore, he conducted a number of surveyors to
the falls of Ohio. On this tour of eight hundred
miles he was absent two months. After this he
was intrusted by the governor, during the cam
paign against the Shawanese, with the command
of three forts. Early in 1775, at the request of
a company in North Carolina, he attended a treaty
with the Cherokee Indians at Wataga, in order
to make of them the purchase of lands on the
south side of the Tennessee river. After perform
ing this service, he was employed to mark out a
road from the settlements on the Holston to the
Kentucky river. While thus employed, at the
distance of about fifteen miles from what is now
Boonesborough, the party was attacked by the
Indians, who killed four and wounded five. In
April, at a salt-lick, on the southern bank of the
Kentucky, in what is now Boonesborough, a few
miles from Lexington, he began to erect a fort, con
sisting of a block house and several cabins, enclosed
with palisades. On the 14th of June he returned
to his family in order to remove them to the fort.
His wife and daughters were the first white wo
men who stood on the banks of the Kentucky
river. July 14, 1776, when all the settlements
were attacked, two of Col. Calway's daughters
and one of his own were taken prisoners ; Boone
pursued with eighteen men, and in two days
overtook the Indians, killed two of them, and re
covered the captives. The Indians made repeated
attacks upon Boonesborough ; Nov. 15, 1777,
with one hundred men, and July 4, with two
hundred men. On both sides several were killed
and wounded ; but the enemy were repulsed ; as
they were also July 19, from Logan's Fort of
fifteen men, which was besieged by two hundred.
The arrival of twenty-five men from Carolina and
in August of one hundred from Virginia gave a
new aspect to affairs, and taught the savages the
superiority of " the long knives," as they called
the Virginians. Jan. 1, 1778, he went with thirty
men to the blue licks on the Licking river to
make salt for the garrison. Feb. 7, being alone,
he was captured by a party of one hundred and
two Indians and two Frenchmen ; he capitulated
for his men, and they were all carried to Chilli-
cothe on the Little Miami, whence he and ten men
were conducted to Detroit, where he arrived March
30. The governor, Hamilton, treated him with
much humanity, and offered 100 pounds for his
redemption. But the savages refused the offer
BOONE.
BOONE.
103
from affection to their captive. Being carried
back to Chillicothe in April, he was adopted as a
son in an Indian family. He assumed the appear
ance of cheerfulness ; but his thoughts were on
his wife and children. Aware of the envy of the
Indians, he was careful not to exhibit his skill in
shooting. In June he went to the salt springs on
the Scioto. On his return to Chillicothe he ascer
tained that four hundred and fifty warriors were
preparing to proceed against Boonesborough. lie
escaped June 16, and arrived at the fort June 20th,
having travelled one hundred and sixty miles in
four days, with but one meal. His wife had re
turned to her father's. Great efforts were made
to repair the fort in order to meet the expected
attack. August 1, he went out with nineteen men
to surprise Point Creek town on the Scioto ;
meeting with thirty Indians, he put them to flight,
and captured their baggage. At last, Aug. 8,
the Indian army of four hundred and forty-four
men, led by Captain Dugnesne and eleven other
Frenchmen, and their own chiefs, with British
colors flying, summoned the fort to surrender.
The next day Boone, having a garrison of only
fifty men, announced his resolution to defend the
fort, while a man was alive. They then proposed
that nine men should be sent out sixty yards from
the fort to enter into a treaty ; and when the
articles were agreed upon and signed, they said
it was customary on such occasions, as a token
of sincere friendship, for two Indians to shake
every white man by the hand. Accordingly two
Indians approached each of the nine white men,
and grappled with the intent of making him a
prisoner ; but the object being perceived, the men
broke away and re-entered the fort. An attempt
was now made to undermine it ; but a counter
trench defeated that purpose. At last, on the
20th, the enemy raised the siege, having lost
thirty-seven men. Of Boone's men two were
killed and four wounded. " We picked up," said
he, " one hundred and twenty-five pounds of bul
lets, besides what stuck in the logs of our fort,
which certainly is a great proof of their industry."
In 1779, when Boone was absent, revisiting his
family in Carolina, Col. Bowman with one hundred
and sixty men fought the Shawanese Indians at
old Chillicothe. In his retreat the Indians pur
sued him for thirty miles, when in another
engagement Col. Ilarrod suggested the successful
project of mounting a number of horses and
breaking the Indian line. Of the Kentuckians
nine were killed. June 22, 1780, about six hun
dred Indians and Canadians under Col. Bird
attacked Kiddie's and Martin's stations and the
forks of Licking river with six pieces of artillery,
and carried away all as captives. Gen. Clarke,
commanding at the falls of Ohio, marched with
his regiment and troops against Keccaway, the
principal Shawanese town, on a branch of the
Miami, and burned the town, with the loss of
seventeen on each side. About this time Boone
returned to Kentucky with his family. In Oct.,
1780, soon after he was settled again at Boones
borough, he went with his brother to the Blue
Licks, and as they were returning the latter was
slain by a party of Indians, and he was pursued
by them by the aid of a dog. By shooting him
Boone escaped. The severity of the ensuing
winter was attended with great distress, the enemy
having destroyed most of the corn. The people
subsisted chiefly on buffalo's flesh. In May, 1782,
the Indians having killed a man at Ashton's sta
tion, Captain A. pursued with twenty-five men,
but in an attack upon the enemy he was killed
with twelve of his men. August 10 two boys
were carried off from Maj. Hay's station. Capt.
llolden pursued with seventeen men ; but he also
was defeated, with the loss of four men. In a
field near Lexington an Indian shot a man, and
running to scalp him, was himself shot from the
fort and fell dead upon his victim. On the 15th
August five hundred Indians attacked Briant's
station, five miles from Lexington, and destroyed
all the cattle; but they were repulsed on the
third day, having about thirty killed, Avhile of the
garrison four were killed and three wounded.
Boone, with Cols. Todd and Trigg and Maj. liar-
land, collected one hundred and seventy-six men
and pursued on the 18th. They overtook the
enemy the next day a mile beyond the Blue Licks,
about forty miles from Lexington, at a remarka
ble bend of a branch of Licking river. A battle
ensued, the enemy having a line formed across
from one bend to the other, but the Kentuckians
were defeated with the great loss of sixty killed,
among whom were Cols. Todd and Trigg, and
Maj. Ilarland, and Boone's second son. Many-
were the widows made in Lexington on that fatal
day. The Indians having four more killed, four
of the prisoners were given up to the young war
riors to be put to death in the most barbarous
manner. Gen. Clarke, accompanied by Boone,
immediately marched into the Indian country and
desolated it, burning old Chillicothe, Peccaway,
new Chillicothe, Willis Town, and Chillicothe.
With the loss of four men he took seven prison
ers and five scalps, or killed five Indians. In Oc
tober the Indians attacked Crab Orchard. One
of the Indians having entered a house, in which
were a woman and a negro, and being thrown to
the ground by the negro, the woman cut off his
head. From this period to the peace with Great
Britain the Indians did no harm. " Two darling
sons and a brother," said Boone, " have I lost by
savage hands, which have also taken from me forty
valuable horses and abundance of cattle. Many
dark and sleepless nights have I spent, separated
104
BOOXE.
BORK.
from the cheerful society of men, scorched by the
summer's sun and pinched by the Avinter's cold,
an instrument ordained to settle the wilderness."
From this period he resided in Kentucky and
Virginia till 1798, when in consequence of an im
perfect legal title to the lands, which he had settled,
he found himself dispossessed of his property.
In his indignation he fled from the delightful re
gion, which he had explored, when a wilderness,
and which now had a population of half a million.
With his rifle he crossed the Ohio and plunged
into the immense country of the Missouri. In
1799 he settled on the Fcmme Osage river with
numerous followers. In 1800 he discovered the
Boone's Lick country, now a fine settlement : in
the same year he visited the head waters of the
Grand Osage river and spent the winter upon the
head waters of the Arkansas. At the age of 80,
in company with a white man and a black man,
laid under strict injunctions to carry him back to
his family, dead or alive, he made a hunting trip
to the head waters of the Great Osage, and was
successful in trapping beaver and other game. In
Jan., 1812, he addressed a memorial to the legis
lature of Kentucky, stating that he owned not an
acre of land in the region, which he first settled ;
that in 1794 he passed over into the Spanish
province of Louisiana, under an assurance from
the governor, who resided at St. Louis, that land
should be given him ; that accordingly ten thou
sand acres were given him on the Missouri and he
became Sjudic or chief of the district of St.
Charles ; but that on the acquisition of Louisiana
by the United States his claims were rejected by
the commissioners of land, because he did not ac
tually reside ; and that thus at the age of 80 he was
a wanderer, having no spot of his own whereon to
lay his bones. The legislature instructed their del
egates to congress to solicit a confirmation of this
grant. He retained, it is believed, 2,000 acres.
In his old age he pursued his accustomed course
of life, trapping bears and hunting with his rifle.
He died at the house of his son, Maj. A. Boone,
at Charette. He left sons and daughters in Mis
souri. In consequence of his death the legisla
ture of Missouri voted to wear a badge of mourn
ing for twenty days. A brother died in Missis
sippi, Oct., 1808, aged 81. Col. Boone was of
common stature, of amiable disposition, and hon
orable integrity. In lu's last years he might have
been seen by the traveller at the door of his house,
with his rifle on his knee and his faithful dog at
his side, lamenting the departed \igor of his
limbs, and meditating on the scenes of his past
life. Whether he also meditated on the approach
ing scenes of eternity, and his dim eyes ever kindled
up with the glorious hopes of the Christian is not
mentioned in the accounts of him, which have
been examined. But of all objects an irreligious
old man, dead as to worldly joy and dead as to
celestial hope, is the most pitiable. An account
of his adventures, drawn up by himself, was pub
lished in Filson's supplement to Imlay's descrip
tion of the western territory, 1793. — Riles'
Weekly Register, March 13, 1813.
BOOTH, CHAUNCEY, minister of Coventry,
Conn., died May 24, 1851, aged 68. He was set
tled in 1815 and dismissed in 1844: he toiled in
six revivals.
BOOTT, KIRK, died at Lowell, April 11, 1837,
aged 46. Born in Boston, educated in England,
he served as an officer in Spain under the Duke
of Wellington. During tAvo years at Woolwich,
he acquired skill as a draftsman and engineer.
He superintended the erection of the Lowell
manufacturing establishments, and was a man of
energy, and generous and liberal.
BORDLEY, JOHN BEALE, a writer on agri
culture, died at Philadelphia Jan. 25, 1804, aged
76. In the former part of his life he was an in
habitant of Md. He was of the profession of the
law, and before the Itevolution was a judge of
the superior court and court of appeals of Mary
land. He had also a seat at the executive council
of the province. But he was not allured by this
office from his duty to his country. He found
our Revolution necessary to our freedom, and he
rejoiced in its accomplishment. His habitual and
most pleasing employment was husbandry ; which
he practised extensively upon his own estate on
Wye Island in the bay of Chesapeake. As he
readily tried every suggested improvement, and
adopted such as were confirmed by lu's experi
ments, and as he added to his example frequent
essays upon agricultural subjects, he was greatly
instrumental in diffusing the best knowledge of
the best of all arts. He was cheerful in his tem
per, and was respected and beloved. In religion
he was of the most liberal or free system within
the pale of revelation. In his political principles
he was attached to that republican form of gov
ernment, in which the public authority is founded
on the people, but guarded against the sudden
fluctuations of their will. He published Forsyth's
treatise on fruit trees with notes ; sketches on ro
tations of crops, 1792; essays and notes on hus
bandry and rural affairs, with plates, 1799 and
1801 ; a view of the courses of crops in England
and Maryland, 1804. — U. S. Gazette, Feb. 1.
BORK, CHRISTIAN, minister of the Dutch Re
formed church in Franklin street, N. Y., died
about 1825 or 1830, at an advanced age, and was
succeeded by George Dubois. In the Revolution
ary war he was a soldier in the British army, lie
studied with Dr. Livingston, and was first settled
near Albany. Once in ministering, by way of
exchange at Stcphcntown to an English congrega
tion, he made a part of the prayer in Dutch and
German, lie preached without notes and was
fervent and eminently useful. If it be true, as
BOSTWICK.
reported, that, having a yoke-fellow not of the
sweetest temper, she once locked him in his
study at the moment for going to the church ; it
is altogether probable, from his own energy of
character, that this little obstacle was instantly re
moved.
BOSTWICK, DAVID, an eminent minister in
New York, was of Scotch extraction, and was
born about the year 1720. He was first settled
at Jamaica on Long Island, where he continued
till 1756, when the synod translated him to the
Presbyterian society of New York. In this
charge he continued till Nov. 12, 1703, when he
died, aged 43. He was of a mild, catholic dispo
sition, of great piety and zeal ; and he confined
himself entirely to the proper business of his of
fice. He abhorred the frequent mixture of divin
ity and politics, and much more the turpitude of
making the former subservient to the latter. His
thoughts were occupied by things, which are above,
and he wished to withdraw the minds of his peo
ple more from the concerns of this world. He
was deeply grieved, when some of his flock be
came, not fervent Christians, but furious politi
cians. He preached the gospel, and as liis life
corresponded with his preaching, he Avas respected
by good men of all denominations. His doctrines
he derived from the scriptures, and he understood
them in accordance with the public confessions of
the reformed churches. His discourses were me
thodical, sound, and pathetic, rich in sentiment,
and ornamented in diction. With a strong, com
manding voice, his pronunciation was clear, dis
tinct, and deliberate. He preached without notes,
with great ease and fluency ; but he always studied
his sermons with great care. With a lively imag
ination and a heart deeply affected by the truths
of religion, he was enabled to address his hearers
with solemnity and energy. Few men described
the hideous deformity of sin, the misery of man's
apostasy from God, the wonders of redeeming
love, and the glory and riches of divine grace in
so distinct and affecting a manner. He knew the !
worth of the soul and the deceitfulness of the hu- j
man heart ; and he preached with plainness, more
intent to impress sinners with their guilt and to
teach them the truths of God, than to attract
their attention to himself. Though he was re
markable for his gentleness and prudence, yet in
preaching the gospel he feared no man. He
knew whose servant he was, and with all boldness
and impartiality he deliveied his message, pro
claiming the terrors of the divine law to every
transgressor, however elevated, and displaying the
mild glories of the gospel for the comfort and re
freshment of every penitent believer. A few
months before his death his mind was greatly dis
tressed by apprehensions respecting the interests
of his family, when he should be taken from them.
But God was pleased to give him such views of
14
BOUCHER.
105
his power and goodness, and such cheerful reli
ance upon the wisdom and rectitude of his gov
ernment, as restored to him peace and calmness.
He was willing to cast himself and all that was
dear to him, upon the providence of his heavenly
Father. In this temper he continued to his last
moment, when he placidly resigned his soul into
the hands of his Saviour. Such is the serenity,
frequently imparted to Christians in the solemn
hour of dissolution.
He published a sermon, preached May 25,
1758, entitled, self disclaimed and Christ exalted.
It received the warm recommendation of Gilbert
Tennent. He published also an account of the
life, character, and death of Pres. Davies, pre
fixed to Davies' sermon on the death of George
II., 1761. After his decease there was published
from his manuscripts a vindication of the right of
infants to the ordinance of baptism, being the
substance of several discourses from Acts II. 39.
— Middleton's Biog. Evan. iv. 414-418; New
and Gen. Biog. Diet. ; Smith's New York, 193 ;
Pref. to Bostwick's Vindication.
BOUCHER, PIERRE, governor of Trois Riv-
ieres in Canada, died at the age of nearly 100
years, having lived to see numerous descendants,
some of the fifth generation. He was sent to
France to represent the temporal and spiritual
wants of the colony ; and published in 1664 an
account of Canada, entitled, Histoire veritable et
naturelle des moeurs et productions, &c.
BOUCHER, JONATHAN, a learned archaeolo
gist, was a native of Cumberland, — the northern
county of England, the country of lakes, the abode
of the poets Wordsworth and Southey, and the
resort of " the lakers," — but came to America
at the age of 16. After receiving Episcopal or
dination, he was appointed rector of Hanover and
then of St. Mary, Va. Gov. Eden gave him also
the rectory of St. Anne, Annapolis, and of
Queen Anne, in Prince George's county. These
are indeed saintly and princely names for a Pro
testant, republican country. However, Mr. Bou
cher was a loyalist, unshaken by the mighty dem
ocratic movements around him. In his farewell
sermon, at the beginning of the Revolution in
1775, he declared that, as long as he lived, he
would say with Zadock, the priest, and Nathan,
the prophet, " God save the king ! " Returning to
England, he Avas appointed vicar of Epsom ; and
there he spent the remainder of his life. He
died April 27, 1804, aged 67. He was esteemed
one of the best preachers of his time. During
the last fourteen years of his life he was em
ployed in preparing a glossary of provincial and
archaeological words, intended as a supplement
to Dr. Johnson's Dictionary. The manuscripts
of Mr. Boucher were purchased of his family in
1831 by the proprietors of the English edition of
Dr. Webster's Dictionary, who proposed to pub-
106
BOUCHER.
BOUDINOT.
lish them as a supplement to Webster. He pub
lished in 1799 a view of the causes and conse
quences of the American Revolution in fifteen
discourses, preached in N. America between 1703
and 1775, dedicated to Washington, containing
many anecdotes illustrative of political events ;
— also, two sermons before the grand juries of
Surrey and Cumberland, 1799.
BOUCHER, CHARLES, died at Berthier, Can
ada East, May, 1852, aged 106.
BOUCIIETTE, JOSEPH, colonel, surveyor-gen
eral of Lower Canada, died April 8, 1841, aged
67, with only a few minutes' illness. He pub
lished a description of Lower Canada, 4to., 1815.
BOUDIXOT, ELIAS, L.L. D., first president
of the American Bible society, died in Burling
ton, N. J., Oct. 24, 1821, aged 81. He was born
in Philadelphia May 2, 1740. His great-grand
father, Elias, was a Protestant in France, who
fled from his country on the revocation of the
edict of Nantes ; his father, Elias, died in 1770 ;
his mother, Catherine Williams, was of a Welsh
family. After a classical education he studied
law under Richard Stockton, whose eldest sister
he married. Soon after commencing the prac
tice of law in New Jersey, he rose to distinction.
He early espoused the cause of his country. In
1777 congress appointed him commissary-general
of prisoners ; and in the same year he was elected
a delegate to congress, of which body he was
elected the president in Nov., 1782. In that ca
pacity he put his signature to the treaty of peace.
He returned to the profession of the law ; but
was again elected to congress under the new con
stitution, in 1789, and was continued a member
of the house six years. In 1796 Washington ap
pointed him the director of the mint of the
United States, as the successor of Rittenhouse :
in this office he continued till 1805, when he re
signed it, and retiring from Philadelphia passed
the remainder of his life at Burlington, N. J.
He lost his wife about the year 1808. His
daughter married Wm. Bradford. His brother,
Elisha Boudinot, died at Newark Oct. 17, 1819,
aged 71. After the establishment in 1816 of the
Bible society which he assisted in creating, he
was elected its first president; and he made
to it the munificent donation of 10,000 dollars.
He afterwards contributed liberally towards the
erection of its depository. In 1812 he was
elected a member of the American board of com
missioners for foreign missions, to which he pre
sented the next year a donation of 100 pounds ster
ling. When three Cherokee youth were brought
to the foreign mission school in 1818, one of
them by his permission took his name, for he was
deeply interested in every attempt to meliorate
the condition of the American Indians. His
house was the seat of hospitality and his days
were spent in the pursuits of biblical literature,
in the exercise of the loveliest charities of life,
and the performance of the highest Christian du
ties. He was a trustee of Princeton college, in
which he founded in 1805 the cabinet of natural
history, which cost 3,000 dollars. He was a
member of a Presbyterian church. By the relig
ion which he professed he was supported and
cheered as he went down to the grave. His pa
tience was unexhausted ; his faith was strong and
triumphant. Exhorting those around him to rest
in Jesus Christ as the only ground of trust, and
commending his daughter and only child to the
care of his friends, he expressed his desire to de
part in peace to the bosom of his Father in
heaven, and his last prayer was, " Lord Jesus, re
ceive my spirit."
By his last will Dr. Boudinot bequeathed his
large estate principally to charitable uses ; 200
dollars for ten poor widows ; 200 to the New
Jersey Bible society to purchase spectacles for the
aged poor, to enable them to read the Bible ;
2,000 dollars to the Moravians at Bethlehem for
the instruction of the Indians ; 4,000 acres of
land to the society for the benefit of the Jews ;
to the Magdalen societies of New York and Phil
adelphia 500 dollars each ; three houses in Phil
adelphia to the trustees of the general assembly
for the purchase of books for ministers ; also,
5,000 dollars to the general assembly for the sup
port of a missionary in Philadelphia and New
York; 4,080 acres of land for theological stu
dents at Princeton ; 4,000 acres to the college of
New Jersey for the establishment of fellowships ;
4,542 acres to the American board of commis
sioners for foreign missions, with special reference
to the benefit of the Indians ; 3,270 acres to the
hospital at Philadelphia, for the benefit of for
eigners ; 4,589 acres to the American Bible soci
ety ; 13,000 acres to the mayor and corporation
of Philadelphia, to supply the poor with wood on
low terms ; also, after the decease of his daughter,
5,000 dollars to the college and 5,000 to the the
ological seminary of Princeton, and 5,000 to the
A. B. of commissioners for foreign missions, and
the remainder of his estate to the general assem
bly of the Presbyterian church. How benevo
lent, honorable, and useful is such a charitable
disposition of the property, which God intrusts
to a Christian, compared with the selfish and nar
row appropriation of it to the enrichment of
family relatives, without any reference to the dif
fusion of truth and holiness in the earth ? For
such deeds of charity the names of Boudinot, and
Burr, and Abbot, and Norris, and Phillips will be
held in lasting, most honorable remembrance.
Dr. Boudinot published the age of revelation, or
the age of reason an age of infidelity, 1790, also
1801 ; an oration before the society of the Cin
cinnati, 1793 ; second advent of the Messiah,
1815; star in the west, or an attempt to discover
BOUDINOT.
BOURNE.
107
the long lost tribes of Israel, preparatory to their
return to their beloved city, Jerusalem, 8vo. 1816.
Like Mr. Adair, he regards the Indians as the
lost tribes. — Panoplist 17: 399; 18: 25; Green's
Disc. UTS.
BOUDINOT, ELIAS, a Cherokee Indian, died
June 10, 1839, being murdered by Indians west
of the Mississippi. lie was a man of education,
talent^, and inlluence.
BOUDINOT, ADRIANA, died at Hanover, N. H.,
in Sept., 1855, aged 78, the widow of Tobias B.
of New Jersey, the nephew of Elias B. Born in
the West Indies, she was of Huguenot descent
from Mr. Lasalle of St. Thomas, whose daughter
married Mr. Malleville : their son Thomas, gov
ernor of the Danish Islands, was the father of
Maria Malleville. She first married Gov. Suhm,
who was the father of Maria Wheelock, and next
Mr. Von Beverhoudt, who removed to N. J., to
Beverwyck, in Parsippany, and was the father of
Mrs. Boudinot. She died in Christian peace.
Her father's house was honored with the visits
of Washington and his wife while the army was
at Morris.
BOUGHTON, BENJAMIN, died in Fredericks-
burgh, Va., in 1842, bequeathing 2,000 dollars
to the Bible society, the same to the tract society,
with a legacy to Sunday schools.
BOULDIN, THOMAS T., judge, died in Wash
ington Feb. 11, 1834, a member of congress from
Va. Having been blamed for not speaking of
the death of his predecessor, Randolph, he rose
to reply, sank down into a chair, and died.
BOUND, EPHRAIM, first minister of the sec
ond Baptist church in Boston, was ordained in
1743 and died in 1765 : he was useful and re
spected.
BOUQUET, HENRY, a brave officer, was ap
pointed lieutenant colonel in the British army in
1756. In the year 1763 he was sent by General
Amherst from Canada with military stores and
provisions for the relief of Fort Pitt. While on
his way he was attacked by a powerful body of
Indians on the 5th and 6th of August, but by a
skilful manipuvre, supported by the determined
bravery of his troops, he defeated them, and
reached the fort in four days from the action. In
the following year he was sent from Canada on an
expedition against the Ohio Indians, and in Octo
ber he reduced a body of the Shawanese, Dcla-
wares, and other Indians to the necessity of making
terms of peace at Tuscarawas. I Ic died at Pen-
sacola in February, 1766, being then a brigadier
general. Thomas Ilutchins published at Phila
delphia in 1765 an historical account of the
expedition against the Ohio Indians in 1764, with
a maj> and plates. — Annual Iteyister for 1763,
p. 27-31 ; for 1764, p. 181; for 1766, p. 62.
BOURNE, RICHARD, a missionary among the
Indi-.ns at Marshree, died at Sandwich about the
year 1685. He was one of the first emigrants
from England, who settled at Sandwich. Being a
religious man, he officiated publicly on the Lord's
day, until a minister, Mr. Smith, was settled ; he
then turned his attention to the Indians at the
southward and eastward, and resolved to bring
them to an acquaintance with the gospel. He
went to Marshpee, not many miles to the south.
The first account of him is in 1658, when he was
in that town, assisting in the settlement of a boun
dary between the Indians and the proprietors of
Barn stable. Having obtained a competent knowl
edge of the Indian language he entered on the
missionary service with activity and ardor. On
the 17th of August, 1670, he was ordained pastor
of an Indian church at Marshpee, constituted by
his own disciples and converts ; which solemnity
was performed by the famous Eliot and Cotton.
He left no successor in the ministry but an Indian,
named Simon Popmonet. Mr. Bourne is deserv
ing of honorable remembrance not only for his
zealous exertions to make known to the Indians
the glad tidings of salvation, but for his regard to
their temporal interests. He wisely considered
that it would be hi vain to attempt to propagate
Christian knowledge among them, unless they had
a territory, where they might remain in peace, and
have a fixed habitation. He therefore, at his own
expense, not long after the year 1660, obtained a
deed of Marshpee from Quachatisset and others
to the South Sea Indians, as his people were
called. This territory, in the opinion of Mr.
Hawley, was perfectly adapted for an Indian town,
being situated on the Sound, in sight of Martha's
Vineyard, cut into necks of land, and well watered.
After the death of Mr. Bourne, his son, Shcarja-
shub Bourne, Esq., succeeded him in the Marshpee
inheritance, where he lived till his death in 1719.
He procured from the court at Plymouth a ratifica
tion of the Indian deeds, so that no parcel of the
lands could be bought by any white person or per
sons without the consent of all the said Indians,
not even with the consent of the general court.
Thus did the son promote the designs of the
father, watching over the interests of the aborig
ines. A letter of Mr. Bourne, giving an account
of the Indians in Plymouth* county and upon the
j Cape, is preserved in Gookin.— Mather's Mag.
I ill. 199; Coll. Hist. Soc. I. 172, 196-199, 218:
| in. 188-190 ; VIII. 170.
BOURNE, EZRA, chief justice of the court of
common pleas for Barnstable county, died at
Marshpee in Sept., 1764, aged 87. lie was the
youngest son of Shearjashub Bourne, who died at
Sandwich, March 7, 1719, aged 75. lie succeeded
his father in the superintendence of the Indians,
over whom he had great influence. He married
a sister of Rev. Thomas Prince. His son, Shear-
ijashub, a graduate of Harvard college in 1743,
died at Bristol, R. I., Feb. 9, 1781. His grandson,
108
BOURNE.
BOWDOIN.
Shearjashub, a graduate of 1764, a representative
in congress and chief justice of the common pleas
for Suffolk, died in 1806. His grandson, Benja
min, L.L. 1)., a graduate of 1775, a member of
congress, and appointed a judge of the circuit
court of Rhode Island in 1801, died Sept. 17,
1808.— Coll. Hist. Soc. III. 190.
BOURNE, JOSEPH, missionary to the Indians,
was the son of the preceding and graduated in
1722 at Harvard college, in the catalogue of which
his name is erroneously given Bourn. He was
ordained at Marshpee as successor to Simon Pop-
monet Nov. 26, 1729. He resigned his mission in
1742, complaining much of the ill treatment
which the Indians received, and of the neglect of
the commissioners with regard to his support.
He was succeeded by an Indian, named Solomon
Briant ; but he still took an interest in the cause,
in which he was once particularly engaged, and
much encouraged and assisted the missionary,
Mr. Hawley. Mr. Bourne died in 1767. — Coll.
Hist. Soc. in. 190-191.
BOURS, PETER, Episcopal minister in Marble-
head, died in 1762, aged 36. He was a native of
Newport, and was graduated at Harvard college
in 1747. After his settlement at Marblehead, he
discharged with faithfulness the duties of his
office nine years, enforcing the doctrines of the
gospel with fervency, and illustrating the truth of
what he taught by his life. His predecessors
were Mousam, Pigot, Malcolm ; his successors,
Weeks, Harris, Bowers. His dying words were
" O Lamb of God, receive my spirit." — Whit-
welVs Ser. on Death of Barnard ; Coll. Hist. Soc.
vin. 77.
BOUTELLE, TIMOTHY, L.L. I)., diedinWater-
ville, Me., Nov. 12, 1855, aged 77. Born in
Leominster, he graduated at Harvard in 1800.
He devoted his life to the legal profession in
Watervillc, but sometimes occupied public sta
tions. The cause of internal improvement and of
education was dear to him. — Boston Advertiser,
July 16, 1856.
BOWDEN, JOHN, D. D., professor of belles-
lettres and moral philosophy in Columbia college,
N. Y., was an Episcopal clergyman more than forty
years. In 1787 he was rector of Norwalk. He
was elected bishop of Connecticut, but, as he de
clined, Mr. Jarvis was appointed. He died at
Ballston July 31, 1817, aged 65. He published a
letter to E. Stiles, occasioned by his ordination
sermon at New London, 1787 ; the apostolic ori
gin of episcopacy, in a series of letters to Dr.
Miller, 2 vols. 8vo. 1808. — Jennison.
BOWD1TCH, NATHANIEL, L.L. D., F. R. S.,
president of the American academy, died at Bos
ton March 16, 1838, aged nearly 65, being born
at Salem March 26, 1773. The son of a ship
master, he had little education. From 1795 he
spent nine years in a seafaring life. He was
president of a marine insurance company from
1804 to 1823, Avhen he became actuary for the
rest of his life of the Massachusetts Hospital
Life Insurance Co. By his extraordinary genius
and industry he became acquainted with Latin,
Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and
German, and was one of the most eminent of
mathematicians and astronomers. About to die,
with his children arranged in the order of age at
his bedside, he said, " Lord, now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, according to thy word."
He published Practical Navigator in 1802, and
various communications in the Memoirs of the
American Academy ; and at his own expense, a
translation of the Mecanique Celeste of La Place,
with a commentary in four large quarto vols.
BOWDOIN, JAMES, L.L. I)., Governor of
Massachusetts, and a philosopher and statesman,
died Nov. 6, 1790, aged 63. He was born in
Boston August 8, 1727, and was the son of
James Bowdoin, an eminent merchant. His
grandfather, Peter Bowdoin, or Pierre Baudouin,
was a physician of Rochelle, in France. On the
revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685, he fled
with a multitude of Protestants, and went first to
Ireland, and came to Falmouth, noAv Portland, in
Casco Bay, Maine, as early as April, 1687. He
owned several tracts of land, one tract of twenty-
three acres extending across the Neck,where South
street now is. In about three years he removed
to Boston. The day after his departure the In
dians attacked, May 15, 1690, and in a few days
destroyed Casco. The time of his death is not
ascertained; his will is dated in 1704, but was not
proved till 1719. He had two sons and two
daughters. His eldest son, James, the father of
Gov. B., by his industry, enterprise and economy
having acquired a great estate and laid the foun
dation of the eminence of his family, died Sept.
4, 1747, aged 71; he also left two sons, James
and William, the latter by his second wife.
Mr. Bowdoin was graduated at Harvard college
in 1745. During his residence at the university
he was distinguished by his genius and umvearied
application to his studies, while his modesty, po
liteness, and benevolence gave his friends assurance
that liis talents would not be prostituted, nor his
future eminence employed for the promotion of
unworthy ends. When he arrived at the age of
twenty-one years, he came in possession of an
ample fortune, left him by his father, who died
Sept. 4, 1747. He was now in a situation the
most threatening to his literary and moral im
provement, for one great motive, which impels
men to exertion, could have no influence upon
him, and his great wealth put it completely in his
power to gratify the giddy desires of youth. But
his h'fe had hitherto been regular, and he now
with the maturity of wisdom adopted a system
which was most rational, pleasing, and useful. He
BOWDOIX.
BOWDOIN.
109
determined to combine with the enjoyments of
domestic and social life a course of study which
should enlarge and perfect the powers of his
mind. At the age of twenty-two years he mar
ried a daughter of John Erving, and commenced
a system of literary and scientific research, to
which he adhered through life.
In the year 1753 the citizens of Boston elected
him one of their representatives in the general
court, where his learning and eloquence soon ren
dered him conspicuous. He continued in this
station until 1736, when he was chosen into the
council, in which body he was long known and
respected. With uniform ability and patriotism
he advocated the cause of his country. In the
disputes which laid the foundation of the Ameri
can revolution, his writings and exertions were
eminently useful. Governors Bernard and Hutch-
inson were constrained to confess, in their confi
dential letters to the British ministry, the weight
of his opposition to their measures. In 1769
Bernard negatived him, when he was chosen a
member of the council, in consequence of which
the inhabitants of Boston again elected him their
representative in 1770. Hutchinson, who in this
year succeeded to the governor's chair, permitted
him to take a seat at the council board, because,
said he, " his opposition to our measures will be
less injurious in the council, than in the house of
representatives." He wras chosen a delegate to
the first congress, but the illness of Mrs. Bowdoin
prevented him from attending with the other del
egates. In the year 1775, a year most critical
and important to America, he was chosen pres
ident of the council of Massachusetts, and he
continued in that office the greater part of the
time till the adoption of the State constitution in
1780. lie was president of the convention which
formed it ; and some of its important articles are
the result of his knowledge of government.
In the year 1785, after the resignation of Han
cock, he was chosen governor of Massachusetts,
and was re-elected the following year. In this
office his wisdom, firmness, and inflexible integrity
were conspicuous. He was placed at the head
of the government at the most unfortunate period
after the revolution. The sudden influx of foreign
luxuries had exhausted the country of its specie,
while the heavy taxes of the war yet burthened
the people. This state of suffering awakened
discontent, and the spirit of disorder was cher
ished by unlicensed conventions, wliich were arrayed
against the legislature. One great subject of
complaint was the administration of justice.
Against lawyers and courts the strongest resent
ments were manifested. In many instances the
judges were restrained by mobs from proceeding
in the execution of their duty. As the insurgents
became more audacious from the lenient measures
of the government and were organizing them
selves for the subversion of the constitution, it be
came necessary to suppress by force the spirit of
insurrection. Gov. Bowdoin accordingly ordered
into service upwards of four thousand of the
militia, who were placed under the command of
the veteran Lincoln. As the public treasury did
not afford the means of putting the troops in
motion, some of the citizens of Boston with the
governor at the head of the list subscribed in a
few hours a sufficient sum to carry on the proposed
expedition. This decisive step rescued the gov
ernment from the contempt into which it was
sinking, and was the means of saving the com
monwealth. The dangerous insurrection of Shays
was thus completely quelled.
In the year 1787 Gov. Bowdoin was succeeded
by Hancock, in consequence of the exertions of
the discontented, who might hope for greater
clemency from another chief magistrate. He
died in Boston, after a distressing sickness of
three months. His wife, Elizabeth Erving, died
in May, 1803, aged 72. He left two children,
James, and a daughter who married Sir John
Temple, consul-general of Great Britain in the
United States, and died Oct. 26, 1809.
Gov. Bowdoin was a learned man, and a con
stant and generous friend of literature. He
subscribed liberally for the restoration of the
library of Harvard college in the year 1764, when
it was consumed by fire, lie was chosen a fellow
of the corporation in the year 1779; but the
pressure of more important duties induced him
to resign this office in 1784. lie ever felt, how
ever, an affectionate regard for the interests of
the college, and bequeathed to it four hundred
pounds, the interest of which was to be applied
to the distribution of premiums among the stu
dents for the encouragement of useful and polite
literature. The American academy of arts and
sciences, incorporated at Boston May 4, 1780, at
a time when our country was in the deepest dis
tress, was formed under his influence, and was an
object of his constant attention. He was chosen
its first president, and he continued in that office
till his death. He was regarded by its members
as the pride and ornament of their institution.
To this body he bequeathed one hundred pounds
and his valuable library, consisting of upwards of
twelve hundred volumes upon every branch of
science. He was also one of the founders and
the president of the Massachusetts bank, and of
the humane society of Massachusetts. The lit
erary character of Gov. Bowdoin gained him
those honors, which are usually conferred on men
distinguished for their literary attainments. He
was constituted doctor of IBAVS by the university
of Edinburgh, and was elected a member of the
royal societies of London and Dublin.
He was deeply convinced of the truth and ex
cellence of Christianity, and it had a constant
110
BOWDOIN.
effect upon his life. He was for more than thirty
years an exemplary member of the church in
Brattle street, to the poor of which congregation
he bequeathed a hundred pounds. His charities
•were abundant. He respected the injunctions of
the gospel of Jesus Christ, which he professed.
He knew the pleasures and advantages of family
devotion, and he conscientiously observed the
Christian sabbath, presenting himself habitually
in the holy temple, that he might be instructed
in religious duty, and might unite with the wor
shippers of God. In his dying addresses to his
family and servants he recommended the Chris
tian religion to them as of transcendent importance,
and assured them, that it was the only founda
tion of peace and happiness in life and death.
As the hour of his departure approached, he
expressed his satisfaction in the thought of
going to the full enjoyment of God and his Re
deemer.
Gov. Bowdoin was the author of a poetic "Par
aphrase of the Economy of Human Life," dated
March 28, 1759. He also published a philo
sophical discourse, publicly addressed to the
American academy of arts and sciences in Boston
Nov. 8, 1780, when he was inducted into the office
of president. This is prefixed to the first volume
of the society's memoirs. In this work he pub
lished several other productions, which manifest
no common taste and talents in astronomical in
quiries. The following are the titles of them :
Observations upon an hypothesis for solving the
phenomena of light, with incidental observations
tending to show the hcterogeneousness of light,
and of the electric fluid, by their union with each
other ; Observations on light and the waste of
matter in the sun and fixed stars occasioned by
the constant efflux of light from them; Obser
vations tending to prove by phenomena and
scripture the existence of an orb, which surrounds
the whole material system, and which may be
necessary to preserve it from the ruin, to which,
without such a counterbalance, it seems liable by
that universal principle in matter, gravitation.
He supposes, that the blue expanse of the sky is
a real concave body encompassing all visible na
ture ; that the milky way and the lucid spots in
the heavens are gaps in this orb, through which
the light of exterior orbs reaches us; and that
thus an intimation may be given of orbs on orbs
and systems on systems innumerable and incon
ceivably grand. — Thacher's Fun. Ser. ; Lowell's
Eulogy ; Mass. Mag. III. 5-8, 304, 305, 372 ;
Univer. Asyl. I. 73-70 ; Miller, II. ; Minofs Hist.
Insur. ; Rldrsltall, v. 121; Amer. Quar. Rev., II.
505 ; Maine Hist. Coll. 184 ; Eliot.
BOWDOIX, JAMES, the son of the preceding,
died Oct. 11, 1811, aged 58. He was born
Sept. 22, 1752. After he graduated at Harvard
college in 1771, he proceeded to England, where
BOWDOIN.
he prosecuted the study of the law nearly a
year at the university of Oxford. After revis
iting his native country he sailed again for Eu
rope, and travelled in Italy, Holland, and Eng
land. On hearing ot the battle of Lexington he
returned home. The anxieties of his father pre
vented him from engaging in military service, to
which he was inclined. Before the close of the
war he married the daughter of Mr. William
Bowdoin, the half brother of his father. Devoting
much of his time to literary pursuits at his resi
dence in Dorchester, he yet sustained succes
sively the public offices of representative, senator,
and councillor.
Soon after the incorporation of the college,
which bears the name of Bowdoin, he made to it
a donation of one thousand acres of land and
more than eleven hundred pounds. About this
time he was chosen a fellow, or elected into the
corporation of Harvard college, and retained the
office seven years. Having received a commission
from Mr. Jefferson, the President of the United
States, as minister plenipotentiary to the court of
Madrid, he sailed May 10, 1805, and was abroad
until April 18, 1808. The objects of his mission,
which related to the settlement of the limits of
Louisiana, the purchase of Florida, and the pro
curing of compensation for repeated spoliations of
American commerce, were not accomplished.
During his absence he spent two years in Paris,
where he purchased many books, a collection of
well arranged minerals, and fine models of crys
tallography, which he afterwards presented to
Bowdoin college. After his return much of his
time was spent upon his family estate, the valuable
island of Naushaun, near Martha's Vineyard.
At this time his translation of Danbenton's "Ad
vice to Shepherds " was published for the benefit
of the owners of sheep. lie had previously pub
lished, anonymously, " Opinions respecting the
commercial intercourse between the United States
and Great Britain." In July, 1811, he executed
a deed to Bowdoin college of six thousand acres
in the town of Lisbon. By his last will he be
queathed to the college several articles of philo
sophical apparatus, a costly collection of seventy
fine paintings, and the reversion of Naushaun
island on the failure of issue male of the dcvis:ecs.
The college claims are now settled.
After a long period of infirmity and of painful
attacks of disease he died without children. His
widow married Gen. Henry Dearborn. At her
decease she left a sum of money and a number of
valuable family portraits to the college. The
name of James Bowdoin was borne by one of the
heirs of his estate, — the son of his niece who
married Thomas L. Winthrop, the lieutenant gov
ernor of Massachusetts. — Jcnk.J Eulogy.
BOWDOIN, JAMES, of Boston, died in Havana
March 6, 1833, aged 38; a graduate of Bowdoin
BOWEN.
BOWIE.
college in 1814. He was the son of Lieut. Gov.
Winthrop. He took the name of his grandfather
Bowdoin and received a competent fortune. Re
linquishing the practice of the law, he devoted
himself to literature, especially to history. The
chronological index of the ten vols. of second
series of the Historical Society was made out by
him, and he performed other useful labors for the
society. A brief memoir is in Hist. Cull. 3d series,
vol. IX.
BOWEX, JAEEZ, L'.L. D., lieut. governor of
Rhode Island, was born in Providence, graduated
at Yale college in 17.57, and died May 7, 1815,
aged 75 years. For thirty years he was the chan
cellor of the college at Providence as the successor
of Gov. Hopkins. During the Pie volution ary war
he was devoted to the cause of his country, and
was a member of the board of war, judge of the
supreme court, and lieut. governor. Of the na
tional convention at Annapolis and of the State
convention to consider the constitution he was a
member. During the administration of Wash
ington he was commissioner of loans for Rhode
Island. Of the Bible society of It. I. he was the
president. In the maturity of his years he be
came a member of the first Congregational church.
His great capacity for public business, joined to his
unquestioned integrity, gave him an elevated char
acter and great influence in society. A gentleman
of the same name was a judge of the superior
court in Georgia ; having in an elegant charge,
delivered at Savannah, made some imprudent
remarks concerning the colored population, the
grand jury presented his charge, in consequence
of which he sent them all to prison, lie was
removed from office, and, it is said, died insane at
Philadelphia.
BOWEX, PARDON, M. I)., a distinguished phy
sician, died Oct. 25, 1826, aged G9. He was born
in Providence March 22, 1757. Richard Bowcn
is said to have been his ancestor ; perhaps it was
Griffeth Bowcn, who lived in Boston in 1639. His
father was Dr. Ephraim Bowen, an eminent phy
sician of Providence, who died Oct. 21, 1812,
aged 96 years. After graduating at the college
of Rhode Island in 1775, he studied Avith his
brother, Dr. William Bowcn, and embarked as
surgeon in a privateer in 1779. Though captured
and imprisoned seven months at Halifax, he was
not deterred from engaging repeatedly in similar
enterprises, resulting in new imprisonments. In
1782 he reached home and Avas content to remain
on shore. In 1783 he repaired to Philadelphia
for his improvement in his profession at the med
ical school. After his return it was but gradually
that he obtained practice. At length his success
was ample ; his eminence in medicine and surgery
were undisputed. During the prevalence of the
yellow fever he shrank not from the peril ; more
than once was he attacked by that disease. For
much of his success he was indebted to his study
of idiosyncrasy, or of the peculiarities, moral, in
tellectual and physical, of his patients. In 1820
he experienced an attack of the palsy, which ter
minated his professional labors, in consequence of
which he retired to the residence of his son-in-law,
Franklin Greene, at Potowomut (Warwick), where
he passed years of suffering, sometimes amount
ing to agony. In the life-giving energy of the
doctrines, precepts, and promises of the Bible he
found the only adequate support and solace.
His wife, who survived him, was the daughter of
Henry Ward, secretary of Rhode Island. Dr.
Bowen sustained an excellent character ; he was
modest, upright, afTable ; free from covetousness
and ambition ; beneficent ; and in his last days an
example of Christian holiness. He published an
elaborate account of the yellow fever of Provi
dence in 1805 in Hosack's medical register, vol.
IV. — Tit uclicr's Med. Ling.
BOWEX, WILLIAM C., M. D., professor of
chemistry in Brown university, received this ap
pointment in 1812, and died April 23, 1815, aged
29. He was the only son of Dr. AYilliam Bowen,
who was an eminent practitioner at the age of
80 years, and was born June 2, 1785. After
graduating at Union college in 1703, he studied
medicine with Dr. Pardon Bowen ; also at Edin
burgh and Paris, and at London as the private
pupil of Sir Astley Cooper. lie did not return
till Aug. 1811. Experiments to discover the
composition of the bleaching liquor, just brought
into use in England, laid the foundation of the
disease which terminated his life. He married a
daughter of Col. Olney. Though his labors on
chlorine impaired his property and destroyed his
life, they led to the creation of the valuable
bleaching establishments of Rhode Island. —
ThacJter's Med. Biog.
BOWEX, NATHANIEL, D. D., bishop of South
Carolina, died Aug. 25., 1839, aged 59.
BOWEX, CHARLES, died Dec. 19, 1845, aged
38, drowned with his wife and oldest child by the
sinking of the steamer Belle Zane in the M'issis-
sippi, by striking a snag, five hundred miles above
Xew Orleans. He lived in Zanesville, Ohio, but
was a native of Charlestown, and in Boston pub
lished for several years the Xorth American Re
view, Amer. Almanac, Token, and other works.
BOWIE, ROBEKT, general, governor of Mary
land, succeeded John F. Mercer as governor in
1803, and was succeeded by Robert Wright in
1805. He was again governor in 1811, but the
next year was succeeded by Levin Winder. He
died at Xottingham in Jan., 1818, aged 64. He
was an officer of the Revolution, and presents one
of the multitude of instances in America of the
success of patriotism, integrity, and benevolence,
unassisted by the advantages of wealth or of a
learned education.
112
BOWLES.
BOYD.
BOWLES, WILLIAM A., an Indian agent, died
Dec. 23, 1805. He was born in Frederic county,
the son of a schoolmaster in Maryland, who Avas
an Englishman and brother of Carington B.,
keeper of the famous print-shop, Ludgate hill,
London. At the age of thirteen Bowles privately
left his parents and joined the British army at
Philadelphia. Afterwards he entered the service
of the Creek Indians and married an Indian wo
man. Ferocious like the savages, he instigated
them to many of their excesses. The British re
warded him for his exertions. After the peace he
went to England. On his return his influence
with the Indians was so disastrous, that the Span
iards offered six thousand dollars for his appre
hension. He was entrapped in Feb., 1792, and
sent a prisoner to Madrid and thence to Manilla
in 179,3. Having leave to go to Europe, he re
paired to the Creeks and commenced his depre
dations anew ; but being again betrayed in 1804
into the hands of the Spaniards, he was confined
in the Moro castle, Havana, where he died. Such
is the miserable end of most of the unprincipled
adventurers, of whom there is any account. A
memoir of him was published in London, 1791, in
which he is called ambassador from the united
nations of Creeks and Cherokees. — Jennison.
BOYD, THOMAS, a soldier, who perished by the
hands of the Indians, was a private soldier be
longing to Capt. Matthew Smith's Pennsylvania
rifle company, in Arnold's expedition through the
wilderness of Maine to Quebec in 1775. lie was
the largest and strongest man in the company.
He was taken prisoner in the assault, Dec. 31.
After being exchanged he was a lieutenant in the
first Pennsylvania regiment, and accompanied Gen.
Sullivan in his expedition against the Indians in
the Seneca country, New York, in Aug. and
Sept., 1779. When the army had marched be
yond Canandaigua, and was near the Gcnesee
town on the Genesee river, Boyd was sent out in
the evening of Sept. 12 to reconnoitre the town
six miles distant. He took twenty-six men, with
an Oneida chief, named Han-Jost. The guides
mistook the road, and led him to a castle six
miles higher up the river than Genesee. Here a
few Indians were discovered, of whom two were
killed and scalped. On his return Boyd was in
tercepted by several hundred Indians and rangers
under Butler. His flanking parties escaped; but
he and fourteen men with the Oneida chief were
encircled. Itesorting to a small grove of trees,
surrounded with a cleared space, he fought des
perately till all his men but one were killed and
he himself was shot through the body. The next
day his body and that of his companion, Michael
Parker, were found at Genesee, barbarously muti
lated. The Indians had cruelly whipped him;
stabbed him with spears ; pulled out his nails ;
plucked out an eye, and cut out his tongue. His
head was cut off. Simpson, afterwards general,
his companion at Quebec, decently buried him.
His scalp, hooped and painted, found in one of
the wigwams, was recognized by Simpson by its
long, brown, silky hair. — Maine Hist. Coll. I.
416 ; American Remembrancer, 1780, 1G2.
BOYD, WILLIAM, minister of Lamington in
New Jersey, died May 15, 1808. He was de
scended from Scottish ancestors, who emigrated
to Pennsylvania. He was born in Franklin county,
1758. At the age of fifteen he lost his father, but
about the same time it pleased the Father of
mercies to turn him from darkness to light. His
collegial education was completed at Princeton in
1778, under the presidency of Dr. Witherspoon.
After pursuing the study of theology with Dr.
Allison, of Baltimore, he commenced preaching
the gospel. His popularity and talents would
have procured him a conspicuous situation ; but
he was destitute of ambition. He preferred a
retired situation, and accepted the call of Laming
ton. Here he continued till his death. A lively
faith in the Iledccmer gave him hope and triumph.
He was a man of unfeigned humility, amiable in
the various relations of life, and remarkable for
prudence and moderation in all his deportment.
He was a preacher of peculiar excellence. Deeply
penetrated himself with a sense of the total de
pravity of the human heart, and of the inability
of man to perform anything acceptable to God
without the influence of the Holy Spirit, he en
deavored to impress these truths on others. He
dwelt upon the necessity of a Divine atonement,
and of faith in the Piedeemer, in order to justifica
tion ; upon the riches of Divine grace and the
encouragements of the gospel to the humble and
contrite ; upon the dangers of self-deception and
the false refuges of the wicked. He was remark
able for a natural facility and perspicuity of
expression. For a few years he wrote his ser
mons and committed them to memory; but for
the remainder of his life he depended, after hav
ing digested his subject, upon the vigor of his
powers. A penetrating eye, natural gestures, a
sweet and commanding voice, and an irreproacha
ble character, gave weight and authority to his
words. But his labors, like those of many other
good men, were attended with only a gradual in
crease of the church committed to his care.
He was formed no less for society than for the
pulpit, having a friendly disposition, being ani
mated in conversation, accommodating himself to
the tempers of others, and mingling condescen
sion with dignity. — Evany. Intellig. May, 1808.
BOYD, JOHN P., brigadier-general in the army
of the United States, died at Boston Oct. 4, 1830,
aged 02. He commanded the detachment of
fifteen hundred men of Wilh'amson's army, which
fought the battle of Williamsburg, Upper Canada,
with eighteen hundred of the enemy, the garri-
BOYD.
BOYLSTON.
113
sons of Kingston and Prescott, Nov. 11, 1813. j the year 1692, it had proved destructive to the
In this severe action brigadier-general Covington I lives of many, though it was much less mortal
was killed ; the American loss was three hundred than when it appeared in the year 1678. On its
thirty-nine ; the British one hundred eighty-one, re-appearance, Dr. Cotton Mather, who had read
This British force being in the rear, and the co- I in a volume of the philosophical transactions, put
operation of Hampton having failed, the proposed
descent to Montreal was abandoned, and the
American army recrossed the St. Lawrence and
went into winter quarters at French Mills. Gen.
Boyd was a good officer ; his early military career
was in India. But this service was of a peculiar
into his hands by Dr. Douglass, two communica
tions from the east, the one from Timoni at
Constantinople, and the other from Pylarini, the
Venetian consul at Smyrna, giving an account of
the practice of inoculation for the small pox, con
ceived the idea of introducing this practice in
kind. He organized three battalions, each of I Boston. He accordingly, June 6, addressed a
about five hundred men, and had also a small ir
regular force. He had six cannon, three or four
elephants, and as many English officers, lie
hired his men and his officers at a certain number
of rupees a month. This corps, as regarded arms
and equipments, was his sole property ; and in
the command of it he entered the service of any
of the Indian princes who would give him the
best pay. Once he was in the pay of Holkar ;
afterwards in the Peshwas service ; then, quitting
the Mahratta territory, he was hired for the ser
vice of Nizam Ally Khan. Then he marched to
Poona, and, having no eligible offer of employ
ment, he sold out his elephants, guns, arms, and
equipments, to Col. Felose, a Neapolitan partisan,
who acquired the implements, elephantine and
human, for carrying on the same trade of hired
ruffianship. In 1808 he was in Paris. After the
war he received the appointment of naval officer
for the port of Boston, lie published documents
and facts relative to military events during the late
war, 1816. — Boston Weekly Messenger, vm. 774.
BOYD, WILLIAM, died in 1800, a graduate of
Harvard in 1796. He wrote a poem on Woman,
and other pieces.
BOYLE, JOHN, chief justice of Kentucky, died
Jan. 28, 1834. He had been a judge of the cir-
letter to the physicians of Boston, inclosing an
abridgment of those communications, and re
questing them to meet and take the subject into
consideration. As this request was treated with
neglect, he wrote to Dr. Boylston separately, June
24, and sent him all the information which he
had collected, in the hope that he would be per
suaded to embrace a new and favorable means for
the preservation of human life. Dr. Boylston
happily was a man of benevolence and courage.
When there was before him a promising opportu
nity for diminishing the evils of human life, he
was not afraid to struggle with prejudice, nor
unwilling to encounter abuse. The practice would
be entirely new in America, and it was not known
that it had been introduced into Europe. Yet
he determined to venture upon it. He first in
oculated, June 26th, his son Thomas, of the age
of six years, and two of his servants. Encour
aged by the success of this experiment, he began
to enlarge his practice. The other physicians
gave their unanimous opinion against inoculation,
as it would infuse a malignity into the blood ;
and the selectmen of Boston forbade it in July.
But these discouragements did not quench the
zeal and benevolence, which were now excited;
though prejudice might have triumphed over an
cuit court of the United States, and Avas able and | enlightened practice, if the clergy had not step-
distinguished, i ped in to aid the project. Six venerable ministers
BOYLSTON, ZABDIEL, F. R. S., an eminent
physician, who first introduced the inoculation of
the small pox in America, died at Boston March
1, 1766, aged 86. He was born of respectable
parents at Brookline, Mass., in 1680. His father
was Peter B., the son of Doctor Thomas B., who
received his medical degree at Oxford, and came
to tin's country and settled in Brookline in 1635.
After a good private education, he studied physic
under the care of Dr. John Cutler, an eminent
physician and surgeon of Boston, and in a few
years arrived at great distinction in his profession,
and accumulated a handsome fortune. He was
remarkable for his skill, his humanity, and his
close attention to his patients. In the year 1721
the small pox prevailed in Boston, and being
fatal, like the plague, it carried with it the utmost
terror. This calamity had not visited the town
since the year 1702, in winch year, as well as in
of Boston gave their whole influence in its favor;
and the weight of their character, the confidence
which was reposed in their wisdom, and the deep
reverence inspired by their piety, were hardly
sufficient to preserve the growing light from ex
tinction. They were abused, but they triumphed.
July 17, Dr. Boylston inoculated his son John,
who was older than Thomas, and Aug. 23, his
son Zabdiel, aged 14. During the year* 1721
and the beginning of 1722 he inoculated two
hundred and forty-seven persons in Boston and
the neighboring towns. Thirty-nine were inocu
lated by other physicians, making in the whole
two hundred and eighty-six, of whom only six
died. During the same period, of five thousand
seven hundred and fifty-nine persons, who had
the small pox in the natural way, eight hundred
and forty-four died. The utility of the practice
was now established beyond dispute, and its sue-
114
LOYLSTOX.
BOYLSTON.
cess encouraged its more general introduction in
England, in which country it had been tried upon
a few persons, most or all of whom were convicts.
In the prosecution of his good work Dr. Boylston
was obliged to meet not only the most virulent,
but the most dangerous opposition. Dr. Law
rence Dalhonde, a French physician in Boston,
gave his deposition concerning the pernicious
effects of inoculation, which he had witnessed in
Europe. The deposition, dated July 22, was pub
lished by the selectmen, the rulers of the town,
in their zeal against the practice. Dr. Douglass,
a Scotchman, violent in his prejudices, and bitter
and outrageous in his conduct, bent his whole
force to annihilate the practice, which had been
introduced. One argument, which he brought
against it, was that it was a crime, which came
under the description of poisoning and spreading
infection, which were made penal by the laws of
England. In the pamphlets, which were pub
lished in 1721 and 1722, various kinds of reason
ing are found. The following extracts will give
some idea of the spirit of them. " To spread
abroad a moral contagion, what is it but to cast
abroad arrows and death ? If a man should wil
fully throw a bomb into a town, burn a house, or
kill a man, ought he not to die ? I do not see
how we can be excused from great impiety
herein, when ministers and people, with loud and
strong cries, made supplications to almighty God
to avert the judgment of the small pox, and at
the same time some have been carrying about
instruments of inoculation and bottles of the
poisonous humor, to infect all who were willing
to submit to it, whereby we might as naturally
expect the infection to spread, as a man to break
his bones by casting himself headlong from the
highest pinnacle. Can any man infect a family
in the town in the morning, and pray to God in
the evening, that the distemper may not spread?"
It was contended, that, as the small pox was a
judgment from God for the sins of the people,
to endeavor to avert the stroke would but provoke
him the more ; that inoculation was an encroach
ment upon the prerogatives of Jehovah, whose
right it was to wound and to smite ; and that, as
there was an appointed time to man upon earth,
it would be useless to attempt to stay the ap
proach of death.
The people became so exasperated, that it was
unsafe for Dr. Boylston to travel in the evening.
They even paraded the streets with halters and
threatened to hang liim. But his cool and deter
mined spirit, supported by his trust in God,
enabled him to persevere. As he believed him
self to be in the way of his duty, he did not trem
ble at the apprehension of the evils which might
come upon him. "NVhen his family were alarmed
for his safety, he expressed to them his resigna
tion to the will of heaven. To such a height was
the popular fury raised, that a lighted gran ado
was thrown in the night into the chamber of Mr.
Walter, minister of lloxbury, who had been pri
vately inoculated in the house of his uncle, Dr.
Mather of Boston. The shell, however, was not
filled with powder, but with a mixture of brim
stone and bituminous matter.
Had Dr. Boylston gone at this time to Eng
land, he might have accumulated a fortune by
his skill in treating the small pox. lie did not
however visit that country till 1725, when inocu
lation was common. He was then received with
the most flattering attention. He was chosen a
member of the royal society, though he was not,
as Dr. Thacher supposes, the first American thus
honored, for Dr. Cotton Mather was elected in
1713. He enjoyed the friendship of some of the
most distinguished characters of the nation. Of
these he used to mention with great respect and
affection Dr. Watts, with whom he corresponded.
After his return to his native country he continued
at the head of his profession, and engaged in a
number of literary pursuits. His communications
to the royal society were ingenious and useful.
After a long period of eminence and skill in his
profession, his age and infirmities induced him to
retire to his patrimonial estate in Brookline, where
he passed the remainder of his days. He had
the pleasure of seeing inoculation universally
practised, and of knowing, that he was himself
considered as one of the benefactors of mankind.
Occupied in his last days in agricultural pursuits,
he bestowed much care on the improvement of
the breed of horses. Those of his own farm
were celebrated. It seems that he had a vigor
ous old age, notwithstanding the asthma, which
afflicted him forty years, for he was seen at the
age of 84, in the streets of Boston, riding a colt,
which, as an excellent horseman, he was breaking
to the bit. He died saying to his friends, " my
work in this world is done, and my hopes of futu
rity are brightening." His wife, who died before
him, was Jerusha Minot of Boston. His second
son, John, a merchant, died at Bath, England,
Jan. 17, 1795, aged 80, bequeathing much to his
•native town. The inscription upon his tomb rep
resents, that through a life of extensive benefi
cence he was always faithful to his word, just in
his dealings, afl'able in his manners, and that after
a long sickness, in which he was exemplary for
his patience and resignation to his Maker, he
quitted this mortal life in a just expectation of
a blessed immortality.
Dr. Boylston published some account of what
is said of inoculating or transplanting the small
pox by the learned Dr. Emanucl Timonius and
Jacobus Pylarinus, 1721; an historical account of
the small pox inoculated in New England, with
some account of the nature of the infection, and
some short directions to the inexperienced, dedi-
BOYLSTON.
BRACKET!.
115
catcd to the princess of Wales, London, 1726,
and Boston, 1730; and several communications
in the philosophical transactions. — Muss. Mag.,
Dec., 1789, 177G-1779; Pierce's Cen. Discourse ;
Holmes, II. 148 ; Boylston's Hist. Account ;
HiiMtin.wu, II. 273-270 ; Thacher's Med. Bioy.
BOYLSTOX, NICHOLAS, a benefactor of Har
vard college, died in Boston Aug. 18, 1771, aged
5,3. His portrait, which is an admirable paint
ing, is in the philosophy chamber of the college.
He had been an eminent merchant, and was
about to retire from business to enjoy the fruit
of his industry, when he was removed from the
earth. He was honest in his dealings, and re
markable for his sincerity, having a peculiar
abhorrence of all dissimulation. He bequeathed
to the university at Cambridge 1500 pounds for
laying the foundation of a professorship of rhet-
eric and oratory. This sum was paid into the
college treasury by his executors Feb. 11, 1772;
and the fund became accumulated to 23,200 dol
lars before any appropriation was made. John
Quincy Adams, then a senator of the United
States, was installed the first professor, June 12,
1806, with the title of "The Boylston professor
of rhetoric and oratory in Harvard college." —
Holmes, II. 179.
BOYLSTOX, WARD NICHOLAS, a patron of
medical science, was the son of the preceding,
and died at his seat in Roxbury, Mass., Jan.
7, 1828, aged 78 years. In the year 1800 he gave
to the medical school of Harvard college a valu
able collection of medical and anatomical books
and engravings, making also an arrangement for
its perpetual enlargement. — Bartleifs Prog.
Med. Science.
BORMAX, JOHN L., died near Oxford, Mary
land, April 20, 1823, aged 64, a profound lawyer.
He published a sketch of the history of Maryland
during the three first years, 1811.
Bit ACE, JONATHAN, judge, died at Hartford
Aug. 26, 1837, aged 83. He was a member of
Congress in 1798, judge of county court and of
probate, and a highly respected citizen.
BRACE, LUCY COLLINS, wife of Rev. Dr. J.
Brace, died at Xewington, Conn., Nov. 16, 1854,
aged 72. It had been proposed to celebrate in a
few weeks, the fiftieth year of her husband's set
tlement and of their marriage. For many years
she met every Sunday a Bible class of her own
age and a missionary society ; she was an example
of the various excellences exhibited in the lives
of a multitude of pastor's wives in our countrv.
BRACKEN, JOHN, bishop in Virginia, died at
Williamsburg July 15, 1818. He had been for
many years not only a bishop, but president of
William and Mary college.
BRACKEXRIDGE, HUGH HENRY, a judge
of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, died at
Carlisle June 25, 1816, aged 67. He was born
about 1749, and graduated at Princeton in 1771,
in the class with James Madison. He was the
master of an academy in Maryland before the
Revolution. In 1781 he settled at Piltsburg,
which he deemed favorably situated for becoming
a large town ; and in its improvement he en
gaged with zeal. He wrote for the newspapers
many essays in prose and poetry. His pieces
were generally satirical; one of them ridiculed
the society of the Cincinnati. In 1789 he was
appointed judge. In 1798 political partisans re
proached him for his partiality to Mr. Gallatin.
A few years before his death he removed to Car
lisle. His wife, whom he married in 1790, was
Sabina Wolf, a young lady of German origin,
whose parents lived on the banks of the Ohio
river. He published a poem on the rising
glory of America, 1774; eulogium of the brave
men who fell in the contest with Great Britain,
1779 ; modern chivalry, the adventures of Capt.
Farrago, etc., 1792 ; 2d edit. 2 vols., 1808 ; ora
tion July 4, 1793 ; incidents of the insurrection
in 1794 in Pennsylvania, 1795; gazette publica
tions, collected, 1806 ; law of miscellanies, con
taining instructions for the study of the law, 1814.
BRACKETT, ANTHONY, captain, an early set
tler at Casco, or Falmouth, as Portland, Maine,
was at first called, was lulled by the Indians Sept.
21, 1689. He was the son of Anthony B., of
Greenland, N. II., then a. part of Portsmouth.
He lived at Casco as early as 1662, and was one
of the settlers around the back cove. His farm
consisted of four hundred acres. The Indians,
led by Simon, whp escaped from prison at Dover,
and was familiar at Brackett's, took him, his wife,
and five children, and a negro servant prisoners
Aug. 11, 1676. Michael Mitton, the brother of
his wife, was killed. At Presumpscot also the
party killed and captured several persons. Thomas
Brackett, his brother, who lived at Clark's point,
on the neck, was shot down and his wife and three
children taken ; Megunnaway, an Indian, " a no
torious rogue," being concerned in his murder.
In all thirty-four persons were killed and carried
into captivity. The prisoners were conveyed to
Arrousic Island, of which the Indians had recently
gained possession, killing Capt, Lake and wound
ing Davis. Being left there in Xovember while
the Indians proceeded on an expedition, Brackett
escaped in an old leaky birch canoe, which his
wife had repaired with a needle and thread, found
in a deserted house; and crossed over to Black
point with his family, and got on board a vessel
bound to Piscataqua. After the peace of Casco,
April 12, 1678, he returned, and in 1682 was in
trusted with the command of fort Loyall at Port
land. In 1688 he was put in command of the
three forts, erected by Andros. In 1679 lie mar
ried for his second wife Susannah Drake of Hamp
ton, covenanting with her father, that one half
11G
BRACKET!.
BRADDOCK.
of his estate should be her jointure and descend
to her male children. A dispute between the
children of the two marriages respecting this
property was adjusted by an amicable division.
His sons were Anthony and Scth : the latter was
killed at the capture of Saco, May 20, 1G90, and
the former taken prisoner. His posterity still
remain at Casco. Thomas Brackett's wife, the
sister of M. Mitton, died in captivity; his son
Joshua afterwards lived in Greenland, where he
died, being the father of Anthony and Joshua of
Portland. — Willis' Hist, of Portland, in Maine
Hist. Coll., I. 94, 200, 207,^143-156.
BRACKET!, JOSHUA, M. 1)., a distinguished
physician, died July 17, 1802, aged 09. He was
born in Greenland, New Hampshire, in May, 1733,
and after graduating at Harvard college in 1752,
studied theology at the request of his parents,
and became a preacher ; but the science of medi
cine had for him greater attractions. He studied
with Dr. Clement Jackson, then the principal
physician in Portsmouth, and established himself
in that town, in which he continued during the
remainder of his life. His wife, Hannah Whip-
pie of Kittery, died in May, 1805, aged 70, be
queathing to the Xew Hampshire medical society,
of which her husband had been president, 500
dollars. She was skilful in botany, having a
garden of rare plants.
Dr. Brackett was a skilful, faithful, benevolent
physician, particularly successful in obstetrical
practice ; mild, amiable, unassuming, affable ;
warm in friendship, an enemy to flattery, a despiser
of popular applause. It is stated that he never
made a charge for his professional services to the
poor, with whom he thought the payment would
occasion any embarrassment. In his religious
sentiments he was a Universalist. He took a deep
interest in the promotion of natural history at
Cambridge, and requested his wife to appropriate
1500 dollars towards the professorship of that
science in Harvard college. She complied with
his request and added to the amount. Dr. Brack
ett was a zealous whig in the Revolution ; during
which he was appointed judge of the maritime
court of Xewr Hampshire, and honorably sustained
the office, till its duties were transferred to the
district court. He was a benefactor of the New
Hampshire medical society, of which he was presi
dent from 1793 to 1799, presenting to it, at its
establishment, one hundred and forty-three vols.
of valuable medical books. — Adams' Ann. Ports
mouth, 321 ; Thacher's Med. Bioy. ; Med. Repos.
s. h., I. 211.
BRACKETT, JAMES, died at Rock Island, 111.,
May 19, 1852, aged 70. A graduate of Dart
mouth in 1805, he was a lawyer of Otsego. He
was a literary man and published several ad
dresses.
BRADBURY, TiiEomiLUS, a judge of the
superior court of Massachusetts, died Sept. 6,
1803, aged 03. He was a graduate at Harvard
college in 1757. His early days were devoted
with diligence and success to the profession of
the law. He resigned the emoluments arising
from his practice for the appointment of a judge,
in which station he was intelligent and faithful in
executing the laws. A sudden attack of disease
at length rendered him incapable of discharging
the duties of his office. — Columb. Centinel,Sc\)t.
11, 1803.
BRADDOCK, EDWARD, major-general, and
commander in chief of the British forces in
America, died July 13, 1775. He arrived in Vir
ginia with two regiments from Ireland in Feb
ruary, 1755. The plan of military operations
having been settled in April, by a convention of
the several governors at Alexandria, he undertook
to conduct in person the expedition against
Fort I)u Qucsne, now Pittsburg. Meeting with
much delay from the necessity of opening roads,
the general determined to advance with rapidity
at the head of twelve hundred men, leaving the
heavy baggage to the care of Colonel Dunbar,
who was to follow by slow and easy marches.
He reached the Monongahela July 8th. The
succeeding day he expected to invest the fort.
He accordingly made his dispositions in the morn
ing. He was advised to advance the provincial
companies in the front for the purpose of scouring
the woods, and discovering any ambuscade, which
might be formed for him. But he held both his
enemy and the provincials in too much contempt
to follow this salutary counsel. Three hundred
British regulars composed his van, which was sud
denly attacked, at the distance of about seven
miles from the fort, by an invisible enemy, con
cealed by the high grass. The whole army was
soon thrown into confusion. The brave general
exerted his utmost powers to form his broken
troops under a galling fire upon the very ground
where they were first attacked; but his efforts
were fruitless. With such an enemy, in such a
situation, it was necessary either to advance or
retreat. All his officers on horseback, excepting
his aid, the late General Washington, were killed
or wounded; and after losing three horses he
received a mortal wound through his right arm
into his lungs. The defeated army fled precipi
tately to the camp of Dunbar, near forty miles
distant, where Braddock, who was brought off the
ground in a tumbril, expired of his wounds.
Sixty-four out of eighty-five officers, and about
half his privates were killed and wounded, making
in the whole a loss of about seven hundred men.
Of the killed were William Shirley of the staff,
and Col. Sir Peter Halket ; and among the
wounded, Robert Orme, Roger Morris, Sir John
St. Clair and others of the staff; and Lieut.-Cols.
Gage and Burton. Though Mante defends the
BRADFORD.
BRADFORD.
117
conduct of Bradclock, yet this disaster obviously
resulted from the contempt of good advice. —
Marshall, I. 384, 390-393 ; II. 14-19 ; Holmes,
II. GO ; Coll. Hist. Soc. vil. 89-94 ; s. s. Till.
153; Wynne, II. 37-42; Mante, 17, 21,26.
BRADFORD, WILLIAM, governor of Ply
mouth, died May 9, 1657, aged G7. The names
of Bradford and Brewster, who were driven from
England into exile by ecclesiastical bigotry and
intolerance, are names among the most honorable
and memorable in the history of the world. lie
was governor in 1621, and in all thirty-one years.
lie was a first settler, one of the hundred Pilgrims
in the Mayflower in 1620. He was born in March,
1590, in Austerfield, a little village in the southern
border of Yorkshire, in England. His grand
father, William B., and John Hanson lived in Aus
terfield in 1575, and were the only persons of prop
erty in the townlet. Alice, the daughter of Mr.
Hanson and Mary Gresham, was his mother.
His father, William, died in 1591 ; his grandfather,
William, in 1596. He had a good patrimony.
He was left to the care of his uncle Robert.
Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire, the residence of
Brewster, was only four or five miles distant from
Austerfield, to the south. At Brewster's house,
the manor, was formed a new church in 1606 or
1607, most of the members of which had proba
bly belonged to the church of Mr. Clifton at Bab-
worth, only a mile or two south of Scrooby :
Clifton was the minister, Brewster the elder. Mr.
Bradford was one of the founders of this church.
At the age of 12 or 13 years his mind was seri
ously impressed by divine truth in reading the
Scriptures, and an illness of long continuance
conspired to preserve him from the follies of
youth. His good impressions were confirmed by
attending upon the ministry of Mr. Richard Clif
ton, and by his union with the Puritan company,
which met at Mr. Brewster's in Scrooby. As he
advanced in years he was stigmatized as a Separ
atist ; but such was his firmness, that he cheerfully
bore the frowns of his relatives and the scoff's of
his neighbors, and connected himself with the
church over which Mr. Clifton and Mr. Robinson
presided, fearless of the persecution, which he
foresaw this act would draw upon him. Believing
that many practices of the established church of
England were repugnant to the directions of the
word of God, he was fully resolved to prefer the
purity of Christian worship to any temporal ad
vantages, which might arise from bending his
conscience to the opinions of others.
In the autumn of 1607, when he was seventeen
years of age, he was one of the company of Dis
senters who made an attempt to go over to
Holland, where a commercial spirit had estab
lished a free toleration of religious opinions ; but
the master of the vessel betrayed them, and they
were thrown into prison at Boston in Lincoln
shire. In the spring of the next year he made
another unsuccessful attempt. At length he
effected his favorite object and joined his brethren
at Amsterdam. Here he put himself an appren
tice to a French Protestant, who taught him the
art of silk-dying. When he reached the age of
twenty-one years, and came in possession of his
estate in England, he converted it into money,
and engaged in commerce, in which he was not
successful.
Mr. Bradford, after a residence of about ten
years in Holland, engaged with zeal in the plan
of removal to America, which was formed by the
English church at Leyden under the care of Mr.
Robinson. He accordingly embarked for England,
July 22, 1620, and on the sixth of September set
sail from Plymouth with the first company.
While the ship in November lay in the harbor of
Cape Cod, he was one of the foremost in the sev
eral hazardous attempts to find a proper place for
the seat of the colony. Before a suitable spot was
agreed upon, his wife fell into the sea and was
drowned. Soon after the death of Governor
Carver at Plymouth, April 5, 1621, Mr. Bradford
was elected governor in his place. He was at
this time in the thirty-third year of his age, and
was most conspicuous for wisdom, fortitude, piety,
and benevolence. The people appointed Isaac
Allerton his assistant, not 'because they could re
pose less confidence in him than in Carver, who
had been alone in the command, but chiefly on
account of his precarious health. One of the first
acts of his administration was to send an embassy
to Massasoit, for the purpose of confirming the
league with the Indian sachem, of procuring seed
corn for the next season, and of exploring the
country. It was well for the colony that the
friendship of Massasoit was thus secured, for his
influence was extensive. In consequence of his
regard for the new settlers, nine sachems in Sep
tember went to Plymouth, and acknowledged
themselves loyal subjects of King James. In the
same month a party was sent out to explore the
Bay of Massachusetts. They landed under a cliff,
supposed to be Copp's Hill, in Boston, where they
were received with kindness by Obbatinewa, who
gave them a promise of his assistance against the
squaw sachem. On their return they carried with
them so good a report of the country, that the
people lamented that they had established them
selves at Plymouth ; but it was not now in their
power to remove.
In the beginning of 1622 the colony began to
experience a distressing famine, occasioned by the
arrival of new settlers, who came unfurnished with
provisions. In the height of their distress a
threatening message was received from Canonicus,
sachem of Narragansett, expressed by the present
of a bundle of arrows, bound with the skin of a
serpent. The governor sent back the skin filled
118
BRADFORD.
BRADFORD.
with powder and ball. This prompt and ingenious
reply terminated the correspondence. The Xarra-
gansetts were so terrified, that they even returned
the serpent's skin without inspecting its contents.
It was however judged necessary to fortify the
town ; and this work was performed by the people
•while they were suffering the extremity of famine.
For some time they subsisted entirely upon fish.
In this exigency Governor Bradford found the
advantage of his friendly intercourse with the In
dians. He made several excursions among them,
and procured corn and beans, making a fair pur
chase by means of goods which were brought by
two ships in August, and received by the planters
in exchange for beaver. The whole quantity of
corn and beans thus purchased amounted to
twenty-eight hogsheads. But still more important
benefits soon resulted from the disposition of
Governor Bradford to preserve the friendship of
the natives. During the illness of Massasoit in
the spring of 1623, Mr. "Winslow was sent to him
•with cordials, which contributed to his recovery.
In return for this benevolent attention the grateful
sachem disclosed a dangerous conspiracy, then in
agitation among the Indians, for the purpose of
totally extirpating the English. This plot did not
originate in savage malignity, but was occasioned
by the injustice and indiscretion of some settlers
in the Bay of Massachusetts. As the most effect
ual means of suppressing the conspiracy, Massasoit
advised that the chief conspirators, whom he
named, should be seized and put to death. This
melancholy work was accordingly performed by
Captain Standish, and the colony was relieved
from apprehension. When the report of this
transaction was carried to Holland, Mr. Robinson,
in his next letter to the governor, expressed his
deep concern at the event. "O that you had
converted some," said he, " before you had killed
any!"
The scarcity, which had been experienced by
the planters, was in part owing to the impolicy of
laboring in common and putting the fruit of their
labor into the public store. To stimulate industry
by the prospect of individual acquisition, and thus
to promote the general good by removing the re
straints upon selfishness, it was agreed, in the
spring of 1G23, that every family should plant for
themselves, on such ground as should be assigned
them by lot. After this agreement the governor
was not again obliged to traffic with the Indians
in order to procure the means of subsistence for
the colony. Thus have failed the common-stock
projects of various enthusiasts.
The original government of Plymouth was
founded entirely upon mutual compact, entered
into by the planters before they landed, and was
intended to continue no longer than till they
could obtain legal authority from their sovereign.
The first patent was obtained for the colony in the
name of John Pierce ; but another patent of
larger extent was obtained of the council for New
England, January 13, 1630, in the name of Wil
liam Bradford, his heirs, associates, and assigns,
which confirmed the title of the colonists to a
large tract of land, and gave them power to make
all laws, not repugnant to the laws of England.
In the year 1640, when the number of people was
increased, and new townships were erected, the
general court requested Governor Bradford to
surrender the patent into their hands. With this
request he cheerfully complied, reserving for him
self no more than his proportion, as settled by a
previous agreement. After this surrender the
patent was immediately delivered again into his
custody. For several of the first years after the
first settlement of Plymouth, the legislative, ex
ecutive, and judicial business was performed by
the whole body of freemen in assembly. In 1634
the governor's assistants, the number of whom, at
the request of Mr. Bradford, had been increased
to five in 1624, and to seven in 1633, were con
stituted a judicial court, and afterwards the
supreme judicature. Petty offences were tried by
the selectmen of each town, with liberty of appeal
to the next court of assistants. The first assembly
of representatives was held in 1639, when two
deputies were sent from each town, excepting
Plymouth, which sent four. In 1649 this ine
quality Avas done away.
Such was the reputation of Mr. Bradford,
acquired by his piety, wisdom, and integrity, that
he was annually chosen governor, as long as he
lived, excepting in the years 1633, 1636, and 1644,
when Mr. Winslow was appointed, and the years
1634 and 1638, when Mr. Prince was elected chief
magistrate. At these times it was by his own
request that the people did not re-elect him.
Governor Winthrop mentions the election of Mr.
Winslow in 1633, and adds, " Mr. Bradford hav
ing been governor about ten years, and now by
importunity got off." What a lesson for the am
bitious, who bend their whole influence to gain and
secure the high offices of State ! Mr. Bradford
strongly recommended a rotation in the election
of governor. " If this appointment," he pleaded,
" was any honor or benefit, others beside himself
should partake of it ; if it was a burden, others
beside himself should help to bear it." But the
people were so much attached to him, that for
thirty years they placed him at the head of the
government, and in the five years when others
were chosen, he was first in the list of assistants,
which gave him the rank of deputy governor.
After an infirm and declining state of health for a
number of months, he was suddenly seized by an
acute disease in May, 16(37. In the night, his mind
was so enraptured by contemplations upon relig
ious truth and the hopes of futurity, that he said
to his friends in the morning, " the good Spirit of
BRADFORD.
BRADFORD.
119
God has given me a pledge of my happiness in
another world, and the first fruits of eternal
glory." The next day, May 9, 1657, he was re
moved from the present state of existence, greatly
lamented by the people not only in Plymouth, but
in the neighboring colonies. Ilubbard makes the
day of his death June o ; but the lines given by
Morton are doubtless good, at least for the date :
" The ninth of May, about nine of the clock,
A precious one God out of Plymouth took :
Governor Bradford then expired his breath."
His sister, Alice, married to George Morton,
who died in 1624, survived her brother.
The seal which Gov. B. used was a double eagle.
His wife, Dorothy May, was drowned at Cape Cod,
Dec. 7, 1620, so that she never reached Plymouth.
llis second wife was Alice Southworth, the widow
of Edward Southworth, whom he married in 1623.
His son, John, was born of his first wife ; William,
Mercy, and Joseph were his cliildren by Alice
Southworth. John died without children. Wil
liam had fifteen children, and Joseph had seven ;
from these have descended the Bradfords of New
England and many beyond its bounds.
In the X. E. Register of Jan. and July, 1850, is
published a genealogy, containing the names of
four hundred and fourteen of his descendants, be
sides many of their cliildren, living chiefly in Mas
sachusetts. Besides the bearers of the name of
Bradford, there are families bearing other names,
whose children are his descendants, some of which
names are the following : Adams, Allen, Allyn,
Baker, Barnes, Brewster, Chandler, Child, Chip-
man, Church, Collins, Cook, Delano, Drew, I) wight,
Elliot, Ensign, Fessenden, Finney, Fitch, Fowler,
Frazer, Freeman, Gay, Gilbert, Gridley, Ham
mond, llobart, Holmes, Hopkins, Hunt, Lane,
Lawrence, Le Baron, Lee, Loring, Metcalf, Mitch
ell, Paddock, Partridge, Prince, Riplcy, Robbins,
Rockwell, Sampson, Skinner, Smith, Soule, Spoon-
er, Stanford, Steel, Stirling, Sylvester, Wadsworth,
Waring, Weston, Whiting, Wiswall. The sup
posed honor of descent from such a man as Brad
ford will be only disgrace, unless there be caught
from the record of his life something of his inde
pendence of thought, something of his unswerving
adherence to the right, something of his self-sac
rificing spirit, something of his zealous toils, his
benevolence, and his piety.
Governor Bradford, though not favored with a
learned education, possessed a strong mind, a
sound judgment, and a good memory. In the
office of chief magistrate he was prudent, tem
perate, and firm. He would sufier no person to
trample on the laws or to disturb the peace of
the colony. Some young men, who were unwil
ling to comply with the order for laboring on the
public account, excused themselves on a Christmas
day, under pretence that it was against their con
science to work. But not long afterwards, finding
them at play in the street, he commanded the
instruments of their game to be taken from them,
and told them that it was against his conscience
to suffer them to play, while others were at work,
and that, if they had any religious regard to the
day, they should show it in the exercise of devo
tion at home. This gentle reproof had the desired
effect. On other occasions his conduct was equally
moderate and determined. Suspecting John Ly-
ford, who had imposed himself upon the colony
as a minister, of factious designs, and observing
that he had put a great number of letters on board
a ship for England, the governor in a boat fol
lowed the ship to sea, and examined the letters.
As satisfactory evidence against Lyford was thus
obtained, a convenient time was afterwards taken
for bringing him to trial, and he was banished.
Though he never enjoyed great literary advan
tages, Governor Bradford was much inclined to
literary pursuits. He was familiar with the
French and Dutch languages, and attained con
siderable knowledge of the Latin and Greek;
but he more assiduously studied the Hebrew, be
cause, as he said, " he would see with his own
eyes the ancient oracles of God in their native
beauty." He had read much of history and phi
losophy ; but theology was his favorite study.
Dr. Mather represents him as an irrefragable dis
putant, especially against the Anabaptists. Yet
he was by no means severe or intolerant. He
wished rather to convince the erroneous, than to
suppress their opinions by violence. His dispo
sition was gentle and condescending. Though he
was attached to the discipline of the Congrega
tional churches, yet he was not a rigid Separatist.
He perceived that the reformed churches differed
among themselves in the modes of discipline, and
he did not look for a perfect uniformity. His life
was exemplary and useful. He was watchful
against sin, a man of prayer, and conspicuous for
holiness. His son, William Bradford, was deputy
governor of the colony after his father's death,
and died at Plymouth at the age of seventy-nine.
Several of his descendants were members of the
council of Massachusetts, and one of them was a
deputy governor of Rhode Island and a senator
in the congress of the United States.
Governor Bradford wrote a history of Plymouth
people and colony, beginning with the first for
mation of the church in 1602 and ending with
1647. It was contained in a folio volume of two
hundred seventy pages. Morton's memorial is an
abridgment of it. Prince and Hutchinson had
the use of it, and the manuscript was deposited
with Mr. Prince's valuable collection of papers in
the library of the old south church in Boston. In
the year I77o it shared the fate of many other
manuscripts in that place. It was carried away
by the barbarians of the British army, who con-
120
BRADFORD.
BRADFORD.
verted the old south church into a riding school.
This invaluable work, after having been lost eighty
years, has just been recovered and printed entire.
For this recovery the American public is indebted
to Rev. John S. Barry, who, in writing his History
of Massachusetts, had occasion, in 1855, to con
sult an English book, in which he noticed a refer
ence to a manuscript history of Plymouth in the
Fulham library, with quotations, which satisfied
him that it was Bradford's lost MS. This was
found to be the case by Mr. Charles Deane,
through the agency of Rev. Joseph Hunter of
London. An exact copy was obtained, retaining
the ancient spelling, and was printed by the Mass.
Historical Society in 1856, with a preface and
notes by Mr. Deane, chairman of the publishing
committee of the society.
This manuscript was used in their historical
writings by Morton, Prince, and Hutchinson. A
portion of the work, taken from the church records
of Plymouth, but not recorded as Bradford's writ
ing, was published by Dr. Young in his chronicles
of the pilgrims in 1841, most of which had been
previously printed by Hazard as a Avork of Mor
ton. Of the way, by which the manuscript reached
the Fulham library, no information has been ob
tained. In this primitive book Mr. Deane has
inserted a page of a fac simile of the handwriting
of Bradford ; and he has annexed Gov. B.'slist of
the passengers in the Mayflower, from which he
concludes that the number of passengers was one
hundred and two, instead of one hundred, the usu
ally-reckoned number. But in this perhaps he falls
into an error, for two, whom he counts, were hired
seamen for one year, when they returned, and
could not be considered among " the first begin
ners," who laid the foundation of all the colonies,
any more than any other seamen. Mr. D. also
mistakes in making Gov. B. sixty-eight years old.
Gov. B. had a large book of copies of letters
relative to the affairs of the colony, which is lost.
A fragment of it, however, found in a grocer's
shop at Halifax, was published by the Massachu
setts Historical Society, to which is subjoined a
descriptive and historical account of New England
in verse. If this production is somewhat deficient
in the beauties of poetry, it has the more sub
stantial graces of piety and truth. He published
some pieces for the confutation of the errors of
the times, particularly of the Anabaptists. — Bel-
knap's Amer. Biog. II. 217-251; Mather's Ma g-
nalia, n. 2-5 ; Davis1 Morton, 269 ; NeaVs New
England, I. 99, 316 ; Prince's Annals, Pref. VI,
IX. 196 ; Coll. Hist. Soc. III. 27, 77 ; VI. s. s. 555 ;
X. 67 ; Bradford's Hist. ; Thacher's Plymouth ;
N. E. Memorial, I. 81 ; N. E. Register, 1850.
BRADFORD, ALICE, the wife of Gov. B., died
at Plymouth March 27, 1670, aged 80, having
survived her husband nearly thirteen years. Born
in England, she first married Edward Southworth,
living with him seven years in Nottinghamshire,
near the residence of Mr. Bradford, who well
knew her, and, as report says, had early sought
her hand. Her name was Alice Carpenter.
Being left a widow, Gov. Bradford renewed his
offer to her two years after the death of his first
wife, Dorothy May. She was now of the age of
thirty-three. Waiving her riyht to demand a
personal visit, which would call away the governor
from his important duties to the colony in the
wilderness, she generously listened to his request,
and came over in the ship Ann, which arrived
Aug. 1, 1623. She was accompanied by the gov
ernor's brother-in-law, George Morton, by her
sister, Bridget Fuller, and by two daughters of
Elder Brewster. Her two sons, Thomas and Con
stant Southworth, were brought over in 1629 or
1630. She was married Aug. 14, and lived with
her husband nearly thirty years. She brought
with her considerable property. She was well
educated, and of extraordinary capacity and great
worth. She incessantly toiled for the literary
improvement and the refinement of the youth at
Plymouth. If she ever felt honored in being
married to Mr. Southworth, who was descended
in the tenth generation from Sir Gilbert S.,
knight of Lancaster, yet she must have felt more
happy in being the companion of him who laid
the foundation of civil and religious freedom in a
new world, and whose name would be held illus
trious by the generations to come of their de
scendants and others, down to the end of time.
Her sister, Mary Carpenter, an old maid, a mem
ber of the church of Duxbury, died at Plymouth
March 20, 1667, aged ninety. Other sisters were
Bridget, who married Samuel Fuller, and gave to
the church the lot of ground on which the par
sonage stood ; Priscilla, the wife of William
Wright ; and the wives of John Cooper and Rev.
Mr. Reyner. At the end of Bradford's History
are published two pages of memorial lines by N.
Morton, " Upon the life and death of that godly
matron, Mistris Alice Bradford," from which it
appears that she and her father belonged to the
Puritan Separatists of the north of England, who
fled to Holland when she was seventeen years
old. He is called a confessor ; and it is added :
" And shee with him and other in her youth
Left tlieire own native country for the truth,
And in successe of time she marryed was
To one whose grace and vertue did surpusse,
I mean good Edward Southworth, vrhoe not long
Continued in this world the saints ainouge."
After mentioning the death of her last husband,
the writer says :
" E'r since that time in widdowhood shee hath
Lived a life in holynes and faith
In reading of Gods word and contemplation,
Which healped her to assurance of salvation
Through Gods good sperit workeing with the same,
Forever praised be his holy name."
BRADFORD.
BRADFORD.
121
" Tis sad to see our houses disposessd
Of holy saints whose memory is blessd;
When they decease and closed are in tombe,
Thercs few or none that rises in their rome,
Thats like to them in holines and grace."
The same writer says of her husband :
" It is enough to name
The name of Bradford fresh in memory,
Which smcles with odoriforus fragrancye."
— TJiacher's Pli/m.116', Bradford's Hist. 460.
BRADFORD, JOHN, the eldest son of the
preceding by his first wife, was born in England,
and came over with Alice Southworth in 1623.
He lived in Duxbury in 1615, and in 1652 was
deputy to the general court. He married Martha
Bourne, of Marshfield. In 1653 he removed to
Norwich, Conn., where he died without offspring
in 1678, aged about 61. His widow married
Thomas Tracy.
BRADFORD, WILLIAM, major, son of the
preceding, deputy governor of Plymouth colony,
was born June 17, 1624, and died Feb. 20, 1704,
aged 79. He was buried at his request by the
side of his father. These homely lines are on Ins
monument :
" He lived long but still was doing good,
And in his country's service lost much blood.
After a life well spent he's now at rest ;
His very name and memory is blest."
In King Philip's war he commanded the Ply
mouth troops, and in the Xarragansett fort fight,
Dec. 19, 1675, at East Kingston, when the fort
was taken, he received a ball in his body, which
he bore during the remainder of his life. In his
last will he provided for fifteen children, nine sons
and six daughters ; and then- very numerous de
scendants in New England can of course all trace
their ancestry to Gov. Bradford. His descendants
are of the oldest line of the Bradfords, for his
elder brother John had no children. His resi
dence was on the north side of Jones' river, in
what is now Kingston. His first Avife Avas Alice,
daughter of Thomas Richards, of Weymouth ;
his second Avas AvidoAV WisAvall ; his third Avas
Mary, the widoAV of ReAr. J. Holmes, of Dux-
bury.
BRADFORD, JOSEPH, the third son of Gov
ernor Bradford, Avas born in 1630, and died in
1715, aged 84. His Avife was Jacl, the daughter
of Rev. Peter Hobart, of Hingham. His sons
were John, Samuel, and William ; his daughters
Alice or Olive, Abigail, Mercy, and Priscilla,
Avhose husbands were as folloAvs : Alice or Olive
married Edward Mitchell and Joshua Hersey ;
Abigail married Gideon Sampson ; Mercy mar
ried Jonathan Freeman and Isaac Cushman ;
and Priscilla married Seth Chipman. Farmer
says he left a son Elisha.
BRADFORD, GAMALIEL, colonel, died at Dux-
bury, Jan. 9, 1807, aged 75. He Avas an officer
16
in the French Avars and in the army of the RCATO-
lution, and a judge. His father, Gamaliel, died
in 1778, aged 73, the son of Samuel, the son of
Major William. His daughter, Sophia, died Feb.
2, 1855, aged 93. Alden B. Avas his son ; and
Dr. Gamaliel B., of Boston, his grandson.
BRADFORD, WILLIAM, a senator of the Unit
ed States, the son of Samuel B., and a descendant
in the fourth generation from Gov. Bradford, died
July 6, 1808, aged 78. He Avas born at Plymp-
ton, Mass., in Nov., 1729. Having studied physic
Avith Dr. E. Ilerscy, he commenced the practice
in Warren, R. I., and Avas skilful and successful.
In a few years he removed to Bristol, and built a
house on that romantic and A'enerable spot, Mount
Hope, Avhich is associated Avith the name of King
Philip. Here he studied laAv and became eminent
in civil life in Rhode Island. In the Revolution
ary contest he took a decided part in favor of the
rights of the colonies. In the cannonade of
Bristol, in the evening of Oct. 7, 1775, by the
British vessels of Avar, the Rose, Glasgow, and
Siren, he Avent on board the Rose, and negotiated
for the inhabitants. About this time his OAvn
house Avas destroyed by the enemy. In 1792 he
Avas elected a senator in congress, but soon re
signed his place for the shades of his delightful
retreat. He Avas many years speaker of the as
sembly of Rhode Island, and deputy governor.
He had lived a AvidoAver thirty-three years ; his
Avife, Mary Le Baron, of Plymouth, Avhom he
married in 1751, died Oct. 2, 1775. His eldest
son, Major William Biadford, was aid to Gen.
Charles Lee, of the Revolutionary army. By in
dustry and rigid economy, Mr. Bradford acquired
an independent fortune, in the use of Avhich he
Avas hospitable and liberal. For many years he
Avas accustomed to deposit AA'ith his minister a
generous sum, to be expended in charity to the
poor. In his habits he Avas temperate, seeking
his bed at an early hour of the evening, and rising
early and Avalking over his extensive farm. Thus
he attained nearly to the age of fourscore. —
TJtachcr's Med. Biog. ; Grisioold's Fun. Serm.
BRADFORD, WILLIAM, the first printer in
Pennsyh-ania, died May 23,- 1752, aged 93. He
Avas born in Leicester, England, and, being a Qua
ker, emigrated to this country in 1682 or 1683,
and landed Avhere Philadelphia Avas aftenvards
laid out, before a house Avas built. In 1687 he
printed an almanac. The Avritings of George
Keith, Avhich he printed, having caused a quarrel
among the Quakers, for one of them, represented
as seditious, he Avas arrested Avith Keith and im
prisoned in 1692. It is remarkable, that in his
trial, Avhen the justice charged the jury to find
only the fact as to printing, Bradford maintained
that the jury Avere also to find Avhethcr the paper
Avas really seditious, and maintained that " the
jury are judges in laAv, as well as the matter of
122
BRADFORD.
BRADFORD.
fact." This is the very point which awakened !
such interest in England in the time of Wilkes.
Bradford was not convicted ; but, having incurred
the displeasure of the dominant party in Phila
delphia, he removed to New York in 1693. In
that year he printed the laws of the colony. Oct.
16, 1725, he began the first newspaper in New
York, called the N. Y. Gazette. In 1728 he
established a paper-mill at Elizabethtown, N. Y.,
which, perhaps, was the first in this country.
Being temperate and active, he reached a great
age, a stranger to sickness. In the morning of
the day of his death he walked about the city.
By his first wife, a daughter of Andrew Sowles, a
printer in London, he had two sons, Andrew and
William. For more than fifty years he was
printer to the New York government, and for
thirty years the only printer in the province. He
was kind and affable, and a friend to the poor. —
Thomas, II. 91; Pcnn. Gaz., May 28, 1752.
BRADFORD, ANDREW, a printer, the son of
the preceding, died Nov. 23, 1742, aged about 56.
He was the only printer in Pennsylvania from
1712 to 1723. lie published the first newspaper
in Philadelphia Dec, 22, 1719, called the Ameri
can Weekly Mercury. In 1732 he was post
master ; in 1735 he kept a bookshop, at the sign
of the Bible, in Second street. In 1738 he re
moved, having purchased a house, No. 8 South
Front street, which in 1810 was occupied as a
printing house by his descendant, Thomas Brad
ford, the publisher of the True American, a daily
paper. His second wife, with whom he failed to
find happiness, was Cornelia Smith, of New York;
she continued the Mercury till the end of 1746,
and died in 1755. — Thomas, II. 30, 325.
BRADFORD, WILLIAM, colonel, a printer, and
a soldier of the Revolution, died Sept. 25, 1791,
aged 72. He was the grandson of the first
printer in Philadelphia. His father, William, was
a seaman. Adopted by his uncle, Andrew Brad
ford, he became his partner in business ; but his
foster mother, Mrs. Cornelia B., wishing him to
fall in love with her adopted niece, and he choos
ing to fall in love with some other lady, caused
the partnership to be- dissolved. In 1741 he went
to England, and returned in 1742 with printing
materials and books. At this period he married
a daughter of Thomas Budd, who was imprisoned
with his ancestor in 1692. He published Dec. 2,
1742, the Pennsylvania Journal, which was con
tinued till the present century, when it was super
seded by the True American. In 1754 he opened,
at the corner of Market and Front streets, the
London coffee-house; in 1762 he opened a marine
insurance office with Mr. Kydd. He opposed the
stamp act in 1765, and in the early stage of the
war he took up arms for his country. As a major
and colonel in the militia he fought in the battle
of Trenton, in the action at Princeton, and in sev
eral other engagements. He was at Fort Mifflin
when it was attacked. After the British army
left Philadelphia, he returned with a broken con
stitution and a shattered fortune. Business had
found new channels. Soon he experienced the
loss of his beloved Avife ; age advanced upon him ;
a paralytic shock warned him of approaching
death. To his children he said, " Though I be
queath you no estate, I leave you in the enjoyment
of liberty." Such patriots deserve to be held in
perpetual remembrance. He left three sons :
Thomas, his partner in business, William, attorney-
general, and Schuyler, who died in the East
Indies; also three daughters. — Thomas, II. 48,
330; U. 8. Gaz.
BRADFORD, WILLIAM, attorney-general of
the United States, died Aug. 23t 1795. He was
the son of the preceding, born in Philadelphia
Sept. 14, 1755, and was early placed under the
care of a respectable clergyman a few miles from
the city. His father had formed the plan of
bringing him up in the insurance office, which he
then conducted ; but so strong was the love of
learning implanted in the mind of his son, that
neither persuasions, nor offers of pecuniary ad
vantage, could prevail with him to abandon the
hopes of a liberal education. He was graduated
at Princeton college in 1772. During his resi
dence at this seminary he was greatly beloved by
his fellow students, while he confirmed the ex
pectations of his friends and the faculty of the
college by giving repeated evidence of genius and
taste. At the public commencement he had one
of the highest honors of the class conferred upon
him. He continued at Princeton till the year fol
lowing, during which time he had an opportunity
of attending the lectures on theology of Dr.
Witherspoon.
He now commenced the study of the law under
Edward Shippen, and he prosecuted his studies
with unwearied application. In the spring of
1776 he was called upon by the peculiar circum
stances of the times to exert himself in defence
of the dearest rights of human nature, and to
join the standard of his country in opposition to
the oppressive exactions of Great Britain. When
the militia were called out to form the flying camp,
he was chosen major of brigade to Gen. llober-
deau, and on the expiration of his term accepted
a company in Col. Hampton's regiment of regu
lar troops. He was soon promoted to the station
of deputy muster-master-general, with the rank
of licut.-colonel, in which office he continued about
two years, till his want of health obliged him to
resign his commission and return home. He now
recommenced the study of the law, and in Sept.,
1779, was admitted to the bar of the supreme
court. In Aug., 1780, he was appointed attorney-
general of Pennsylvania.
In 1784 he married the daughter of Elias
BRADFORD.
BRADFORD.
123
Boudinot, of New Jersey, with whom he lived till
his death in the exercise of every domestic virtue
that adorns human nature. On the reformation
of the courts of justice under the new constitution
of Pennsylvania, he was solicited to accept the
office of a judge of the supreme court, and was
commissioned byGov. Mifflin, Aug. 22, 1791. In
this station his indefatigable industry, unshaken
integrity and correct judgment enabled liim to
give general satisfaction. Here he had deter
mined to spend a considerable part of his life ;
but on the promotion of Edmund Randolph to
the office of secretary of State, as successor of
Mr. Jefferson, he was urged to accept the office
of attorney-general of the United States, now left
vacant. He accordingly received the appointment
Jan. 28, 1794. But he continued only a short
time in this station, to which he was elevated by
Washington. He was succeeded by Mr. Lee, of
Virginia. According to his express desire, he was
buried by the side of his parents in the burial
ground of the second Presbyterian church in
Philadelphia.
Mr. Bradford possessed a mild and amiable
temper, and his genteel and unassuming manners
were united with genius, eloquence, and taste.
As a public speaker he was persuasive and con
vincing. He understood mankind well, and knew
how to place his arguments in the most striking
point of light. His language was pure and sen
tentious ; and he so managed most of his forensic
disputes, as scarcely ever to displease his oppo
nents, while he gave the utmost satisfaction to his
clients. He possessed great firmness of opinion,
yet was remarkable for his modesty and caution
in delivering his sentiments. Combining a quick
and retentive memory and an excellent judgment
with great equanimity and steadiness in his con
duct, and a pleasing deportment, he conciliated
respect and affection. Towards his country he
felt the sincerest attachment, and her interests
he preferred to every selfish consideration. His
charities were secret, but extensive ; and none in
distress were ever known to leave him with dis
content. It is mentioned as a proof of his benev
olence, that he adopted and educated as his own
son an orphan child of Joseph Reed. His friend
ships were few, but very affectionate, and those
who aided him in his first setting out in life were
never ungratefully forgotten. Though engaged
constantly in public business, yet the concerns of
this world did not make him regardless of the
more important concerns of religion. He firmly
believed the Christian system, for he had given it
a thorough examination. By its incomparable
rules he regulated his whole conduct, and on its
promises he founded all his hopes of future hap
piness.
In the earlier periods of his life he was not un
acquainted with the walks of poetry, and some of
his poetical productions, in imitation of the pasto
rals of Shenstone, were published in the Phila
delphia magazines. They were at the time held
in high estimation. He published in 1793 an
inquiry how far the punishment of death is nec
essary in Pennsylvania, with notes and illustra
tions, to which is added an account of the gaol
and penitentiary house of Philadelphia, by Caleb
Lownes. This Avork was written at the request
of Gov. Mifflin, and was intended for the use of
the legislature, in the nature of a report, they
having the subject at large under their considera
tion. Furnishing a proof of the good sense and
philanthropy of the author, it gained him great
credit. It had much influence in meliorating the
criminal laws, and hastening the almost entire ab
olition of capital punishments, not only in Penn
sylvania, but in many other States, where the
interests of humanity have at last prevailed over
ancient and inveterate prejudices. — Rees1 Cycl. ;
Hardie's Biog. Did. ; Marshall, V. 489, 639 ;
Gaz. U. S., Aug. 24, 1795.
BRADFORD, SUSAN, wife of the preceding,
died in Burlington, X. J., Nov. 30, 1854, nearly
90. Susan Vergereau was the eldest daughter of
Elias Boudinot, born Dec. 21, 1764: her mother
was Hannah Stockton, of Princeton, a daughter of
John, a signer of the declaration of independence.
Her father's great-grandfather was a Huguenot,
who fled to England. She was married in 1784
to Wm. Bradford, who died in 1795. A widow
for the rest of her life, she lived in Burlington
from 1805 till her death. Bishop Doane visited
her daily the last twenty years. She was opulent
and benevolent, and eminently pious.
BRADFORD, THOMAS, died at Philadelphia in
May, 1838, aged 94. He was an eminent printer,
editor, and publisher, succeeding Franklin in
1763 as printer to the continental congress.
BRADFORD, ROBERT, major, died in Belpre,
Ohio, in 1823, aged 73. He was born in 1750,
the son of Robert, of Kingston ; and was a de
scendant of the sixth generation from Gov. B.
In the war of the Revolution he was a brave offi
cer. The sword given him by Lafayette is in
the hands of his only surviving son, O. L. Brad
ford, of Wood county, Va. As an associate of
the Ohio company, he removed to Marietta in
1788. The next year he and other officers set
tled Belpre, where he encountered the perils of
the Indian scalping-knife. He was a worthy,
cheerful, warm-hearted pioneer of the west. —
Hildreth's Bior/. Mem. relating to Ohio.
BRADFORD, AXDKKW, died at Duxbury in
Jan., 1837, aged 91 ; a descendant of Gov. B. He
was a quartermaster in the Revolutionary army,
a twin brother of Peter B., who died two years
before.
BRADFORD, JOHN, died Jan. 27, 1825, aged
68. He was born in Boston Aug., 1750, gradu-
124
BRADFORD.
BRADLEY.
ated at Harvard in 1774, and \vas ordained at
Roxbury in May, 11 So. T. Gray wrote an obitu
ary notice, with a sketch of the Roxbury churches,
1825.
BRADFORD, ALDEN, died in Boston Oct. 26,
1843, aged 78. He was born in Duxbury, the
son of Gamaliel, was graduated in 1756, and a
minister in Pownalborough, now Wiscasset, eight
years. From 1812 to 1824 he was secretary of
State of Massachusetts. He published a history
of Mass, from 1764 to 1789, 2vols. ; from 1790 to
1820; also two sermons on the doctrines of Christ,
1794, at Hallowell ; eulogy on Washington ; ordi
nation of N. Tilton, 1801 ; sermon at Plymouth ;
oration, 1804; on death of Knox, 1806; biogra
phy of C. Strong, 1820; on State rights, 1824;
discourse, 1830 ; and account of Wiscasset and
Duxbury in historical collections.
BRADFORD, EBENKZER, minister of Rowley,
a brother of Moses, died Jan. 3, 1801, aged 55.
A graduate of Princeton in 1773, he was settled
at R. in 1782, after living a few y ears in D anbury.
His son, John Melancthon B., D. D., was a grad
uate at Providence in 1800. His wife was a sister
of Dr. Green, of Philadelphia. He published a
sermon at the ordination of N.Howe, 1791;
strictures on Dr. Langdon's remarks on Hopkins'
system, 1794 ; at a thanksgiving, also at a fast,
1795 ; at the installation of J. 11. Stevens, 1795.
BRADFORD, MOSES, died in Montague June
13, 1838, aged 73. A descendant of Gov. Brad
ford by his son AVilliam, he was born in Canter
bury, Conn., the brother of Rev. E. B., of
Rowley. He graduated at Dartmouth in 1785,
and was from 1790 the minister of Francestown
thirty-seven years, eminently useful, the church
growing from fifty members to three or four hun
dred. He had three sons, who were preachers.
BRADFORD, EPHRAIM P., minister of New
Boston, N. II. nearly forty years, died Dec. 14,
1845 : a graduate of Harvard in 1803, and a dili
gent laborer.
BRADFORD, GAMALIEL, M. D., superintend
ent of the Mass, general hospital, died in Boston
Oct. 22, 1839, aged nearly 44; a descendant of
"William B., and a graduate of 1814. He was an
adversary of phrenology, and of slavery. He
wrote eighty miscellaneous pieces ; among them
an address on temperance ; a letter on slavery,
and various reviews. A Memoir by Dr. Francis
is in Hist. Coll. 3d series, vol ix.
BRADLEY, SAMUEL, killed in the " Bradley
massacre," was an early settler at Concord, N. H.,
then Rumford. On the llth Aug., 1746, as he
was proceeding with six others to Hopkinton, the
party was attacked by a hundred Indians a mile
and a half from Concord village. Samuel Brad
ley was killed and scaljx-d near the brook. To
his brother, Jonathan Bradley, a lieutenant in
Capt. Ladd's company, quarter was offered; but
he refused it, and fought till he was hewed down
with the tomahawk. Three others were killed :
Alexander Roberts and William Stickney were
made prisoners. Mr. Bradley was a young man ;
his widow, who married Richard Calfe, of Ches-
'ter, died Aug. 10, 1817, aged 98. His son, John,
who was two years old at the time of the mas
sacre, was a very respectable citizen of Concord,
and served in both branches of the legislature.
He died July 5, 1815, aged 71, leaving sons,
among whom was Samuel A. Bradley, of Frye-
burg. Seven persons of the name of Bradley
were killed by the Indians in Haverhill, Mass., in
March, 1697 ; in 1704 a Mrs. Bradley, after kill
ing an Indian by pouring boiling soap on him,
was taken prisoner. — Boutoris Cent. Disc.;
Moore's Ann. of Concord ; Coll. Hist. Soc. s. s.
IV. 129.
BRADLEY, STEPHEN R., a senator of the
United States, was born Oct. 20, 1754, in Wral-
lingford, now Cheshire, Conn., and graduated
at Yale college in 1775. He was the aid of
Gen. Wooster, when that officer fell in a skirmish
with the enemy. Removing to Vermont, he con
tributed much to the establishment of that State.
He was one of its first senators to congress, in
which body he continued, with one intermission,
until he retired from public life in 1812. He
died at Walpole, N. H., Dec. 16, 1830, aged 76.
He published Vermont's appeal, 1779, which has
been sometimes ascribed to Ira Allen.
BRADLEY, WILLIAM II., a poet, was born in
Providence, R. I. After being educated as a phy
sician, he went to Cuba, where he died in 1825.
He published Giuseppino, an occidental story,
1822 ; besides many fugitive pieces. — Spec. Amer.
Poet. II. 394, 398.
BRADLEY, ABRAHAM, assistant postmaster
general, died at Washington May 7, 1838.
BRADLEY, PHL\EHAS, Dr., died at Washing
ton Feb. 28, 1845, aged 75. Born at Litchfield,
he practised physic at Painted Post, N. Y. ; but
about 1800 accepted an appointment in the post
office at Washington ; he was second assistant
postmaster-general.
BRADLEY, JOSHUA, a Baptist minister, died
at St. Paul, Minnesota, Nov. 22, 1855, aged 85.
From his 20th year he was engaged in education
and the ministry, rendering great services to the
cause of religion.
BRADLEY, EMILIE, wife of Dr. D. B. Brad
ley, missionary to Siam, died at Bangkok Aug. 2,
1845, aged 34. Her name was Emilie Royce, of
Clinton, N. Y. She embarked July 2>, 1834, and
had been ten years a missionary. Her end was
remarkably peaceful, like that of many other
missionaries. She was glad the Siamese could
see how a Christian could die ; she wished them
to judge which religion makes the soul most
happy in the hour of death.
BRADSTREET.
BRADSTREET.
125
BRADSTREET, SIMON, governor of Mass.,
the son of a nonconformist minister in England,
died at Salem, March 27, 1697, aged 94. He
was born at Ilorbling in Lincolnshire in March,
1603. His father died when he was at the age of
fourteen. But he was soon afterwards taken into
the religious family of the Earl of Lincoln, in
which he continued about eight years under the
direction of Thomas Dudley, and among other
offices sustained that of steward. He lived a
year at Emanucl college, Cambridge, pursuing
his studies amidst many interruptions. He then
returned to the earl's; but soon accepted the
place of steward in the family of the Countess of
Warwick. Here he continued till he married a
daughter of Mr. Dudley, and was persuaded to
engage in the project of making a settlement in
Massachusetts. He was in March, 1630, chosen
assistant of the colony, which was about to be es
tablished, and arrived at Salem in the summer of
the same year. lie was at the first court, which
was held at Charlestown Aug. 23. He was after-
wards secretary and agent of Massachusetts, and
commissioner of the united colonies. He was
sent with Mr. Norton in 1662 to congratulate
King Charles on liis restoration, and as agent of
the colony to promote its interests. From 1673
to 1679 he was deputy governor. In this last
year he succeeded Mr. Leverett as governor,
and remained in this office till, May, 1686, when
the charter was dissolved, and Joseph Dudley
commenced his administration as president of
New England. In May, 1689, after the imprison
ment of Andros, he was replaced in the oilice of
governor, which station he held till the arrival of
Sir William Phipps in May, 1692, with a charter
which deprived the people of the right of elect
ing their chief magistrate, lie had been fifty
years an assistant of the colony. He had lived at
Cambridge, Ipswich, Andover, Boston, and Salem.
Gov. Bradstreet, though he possessed no splendid
talents, yet by his integrity, prudence, moderation,
and piety acquired the confidence of all classes of
people. When King Charles demanded a sur
render of the charter, he was in favor of comply
ing ; and the event proved the correctness of his
opinion. He thought it would be more prudent
for the colonists to submit to a power which they
could not resist, than to have judgment given
against the charter, and thus their privileges be
entirely cut off. If his moderation in regard to
religious affairs, particularly towards the Anabap
tists and the Quakers, was not so conspicuous, it
was not a fault peculiar to him. Yet he had the
good sense to oppose the witchcraft delusion. lie
had eight children by his first wife, the daughter
of governor Thomas Dudley, who wrote a volume
of poems. His second wife, a sister of Sir George
Downing, was the widow of Joseph Gardner, of
Salem. His son, Simon, the minister of New
London, graduated 1660, was ordained Oct. 5,
1670, and died 168o. Another son, Major Dud
ley B., was taken prisoner by the Indians with
his wife at Andover in 1698. — Mather's Magna-
lia, II. 19, 20; Hutckinson, I. 18,219, 323; II.
13, 105; Holmes, I. 466.
BRADSTREET, ANNE, a poetess, was the
daughter of Governor Dudley, and was born in
1612 at Northampton, England. At the age of
sixteen she married Mr. Bradstreet, afterwards
governor of Massachusetts, and accompanied him
to America in 1630. After being the mother of
eight children, she died Sept. 16, 1672, aged 60.
Her volume of poems was dedicated to her
father, in a copy of verses dated March 20, 1642,
and is probably the earliest poetic volume written
in America. The title is : " Several Poems, com
piled with great variety of wit and learning, full
of delight ; wherein especially is contained a com
plete discourse and description of the four ele
ments, constitutions, ages of man, seasons of the
year, together with an exact epitome of the three
first monarchies, viz : the Assyrian, Persian, Gre
cian, and Roman commonwealth, from the begin
ning to the end of their last king, with divers
other pleasant and serious poems. By a gentle
woman of New England." A third edition was
published in I7o8. — Spec. Amer. Poet. Intr. XX.;
American Quar. Rev. n. 494-496.
BRADSTREET, SIMOX, minister of Charles-
town, Mass., was graduated at Harvard college
in 1693, and was ordained as successor of Mr.
Morton, Oct. 26, 1698. He received J. Stephens
as colleague in 1721, and Mr. Abbot as his col
league in 1724. After a ministry of more than
forty years, he died Dec. 31, 1741, aged 72. His
successors were Abbot, Prentice, Paine, and
Dr. Morse. He was a very learned man, of a
strong mind, tenacious memory, and lively imagi
nation. Lieut-Governor Taller introduced him to
Governor Burnet, who was himself a fine scholar,
by saying, here is a man who can whistle Greek ;
and the governor afterwards spoke of him as one
of the first literary characters and best preachers
whom he had met with in America. Mr. Brad-
street was subject to hypochondriacal complaints,
which made him afraid to preach in the pulpit
some years before he died. He delivered his ser
mons in the deacon's seat, without notes, and they
were in general melancholy effusions upon the
wretched state of mankind and the vanity of the
world. He possessed such a catholic spirit, that
some of the more zealous brethren accused him
of Arminianism ; but the only evidence of this
was his fondness for Tillotson's sermons, and his
being rather a practical than a doctrinal preacher.
He seldom appeared with a coat, but always wore
a plaid gown, and was generally seen with a pipe
in his mouth. His Latin epitaph upon his prede
cessor, Mr. Morton, has been preserved by the
126
BRADSTREET.
BRAIXARD.
Mass. Hist. Society. — Hist. Coll. VIII. 75 ; Bud-
ington.
BRADSTREET, SIMON, minister of Marble-
head, was the son of the preceding, and was
graduated at Harvard college in 1728. He was
ordained successor of Mr. Ilolyoke Jan. 4, 1738,
and died Oct. 5, 1771; Isaac Story, who married
his daughter, having been his colleague four or
five months. lie was an excellent scholar, a most
worthy and pious Christian, and faithful pastor ;
laboring to bring his hearers to the love of God,
the reception of the Saviour, and the practice of
holiness. He published a sermon on the death
of his brother Samuel, of Chaiiestown, 1755.
BRADSTREET, JOHN, a major-general in
America, appointed by the king of Great Britain,
was in 1740 lieutenant-governor of St. John's,
Newfoundland. lie was afterwards distinguished
for his military services. It was thought of the
highest importance in the year 1756 to keep open
the communication with Fort Oswego on Lake
Ontario. Gen. Shirley accordingly enlisted forty
companies of boatmen, each consisting of fifty
men, for transporting stores to the fort from
Schenectady, and placed them under the command
of Bradstrect, who was an active and vigilant
officer, and inured to the hardships to which that
service exposed him. In the beginning of the
spring of this year a small stockaded post with
twenty-five men, at the carrying place, was cut off.
It became necessary to pass through the country
with large squadrons of boats, as the enemy
infested the passage through the Onondaga river.
On his return from Oswego, July 3, 1756, Col.
Bradstreet, who was apprehensive of being am
bushed, ordered the several divisions to proceed as
near each other as possible. He was at the head
of about three hundred boatmen in the first
division, when at the distance of nine miles from
the fort the enemy rose from their ambuscade and
attacked him. He instantly landed upon a small
island and with but six men maintained his
position, till he was reinforced. A general en
gagement ensued, in which Bradstrect with
gallantry rushed upon a more numerous enemy,
and entirely routed them, killing and wounding
about two hundred men. His own loss was
about thirty. In the year 1758 he was intrusted
with the command of three thousand men on an
expedition against Fort Frontenac, which was
planned by himself. He embarked at Oswego on
Lake Ontario, and on the evening of Aug. 25th
landed within a mile of the fort. On the 27th it
was surrendered to him. Forty pieces of cannon
and a vast quantity of provisions and merchandize,
with one hundred and ten prisoners, fell into his
hands. The fort and nine armed vessels and such
stores as could not be removed, were destroyed.
In August, 17G4, he advanced with a considerable
force toward the Indian country, and at Presquc
Isle compelled the Delawares, Shawanese, and
other Indians to terms of peace. He was ap
pointed major-general in May, 1772. After
rendering important services to his country, he
died at New York Oct. 21, 1774. — Wynne, n.
,59-61, 86-88; Ann. Beg. for 1764, 181 ; Holmes,
II. 198; Marshall,!. 137,438; Coll. Hist. Soc.,
VII. 150, 155; Mante.
BRADSTREET, STEPHEN I., died in Cleveland
June 9, 1837, aged 42 ; pastor of the first church,
then editor of the Ohio Observer and of the Cleve
land Messenger; a graduate of Dartmouth, 1819.
BRADY, HUGH, major-general, died in Detroit
April 15, 1851, aged 83. Born in Pennsylvania,
he entered the army in 1792, and served under
Wayne against the Indians. At the battle of
Chippewa he headed his regiment. From 1825
he was stationed at Detroit. A life of rigid
temperance and regular activity gave him an
elastic step in old age. lie had a pure and
upright character.
BRAIN ARD, JOHN GARDINER CALKINS, a poet,
was the son of Judge Jeremiah G. Brainard of
Xew London, Conn., died Sept. 26, 1828, aged
32. He was born about the year 1797. He was
graduated in 1815 at Yale college. Though his
name differs in one letter from that of the
celebrated missionary, yet probably they had a
common ancestor. Indeed his name, in a catalogue
of the college, is given Urainerd, while that of
John, a brother of David, is printed Brainard.
These are probably both mistakes. Autograph
letters of David and John in my possession
present the form of Braincrd ; the other form of
the name being adopted by the poet and his
father, I do not feel authorized to change it for the
sake of uniformity. Brainard studied law and
commenced the practice at Midclletown ; but not
finding the success which he desired, in 1822 he
undertook the editorial charge of the Connecticut
Mirror at Hartford. Thus he was occupied about
seven years, until, being marked as a victim for the
consumption, he returned about a year before his
death to his father's house.
He was an excellent editor of the paper, which
he conducted, enriching it with his poetical pro
ductions, which have originality, force, and paLhos,
and with many beautiful prose compositions, and
refraining from that personal abuse, which many
editors seem to think essential to their vocation.
In this respect his gentlemanly example is worthy
of being followed by the editorial corps. He,
who addresses himself every week or every day to
thousands of readers, sustains a high responsibility.
If, destitute of good breeding and good principles,
he is determined to attract notice by the person
alities, for which there is a greedy appetite in the
community ; if he yields himself a slave to the
party which he espouses, and toils for it by con
tumelies upon his opponents ; if, catching the
BRAINERD.
BRAIXERD.
127
spirit of an infuriated zealot, and regardless of
truth and honor, he scatters abroad his malignant
slanders and inflammatory traducements ; then,
instead of a wise and benevolent teacher and
guide, he presents himself as a sower of discord
and a minister of evil.
When he was a member of Yale college in'
1815, during a revival of religion, he was deeply
impressed with his sin and danger; but his
religious sensibility soon diminished, and the world
occupied again his thoughts, though spcculatively
he assented to the truths of the gospel. Thus he
lived twelve or thirteen years, till a few months
before his death. Then, at his father's house,
during his decay by the consumption, he spent his
days and evenings in reading religious books and
in pious meditations. To his minister, Mr.
McEwen, he said, " This plan of salvation in the
gospel is all that I want ; it lills me with wonder
and gratitude, and makes the prospect of death
not only peaceful, but joyous." Pale and feeble,
he went to the house of God, and made a pro
fession of religion and was baptized. The next
Sabbath, as he could not attend meeting, the
Lord's supper was administered at his room. His
last remark to his minister was, " I am willing to
die ; I have no righteousness, but Christ and his
atonement are enough. God is a God of truth,
and I think I am reconciled to him." The change
experienced by the renovated, pardoned sinner, is
described by him in the following lines :
" All sights are fair to the recovered blind ;
All sounds are music to tho deaf restored ;
The lame, made whole, leaps like the sportive hind ;
And the sad, bow'd down sinner, with his loud
Of shame and sorrow, when he cuts the cord,
And leaves his pack behind, is free again
In the light yoke and burden of his Lord."
He published Occasional pieces of poetry, 12mo.,
1825. — Specimens Amer. Poetry, ill. 198-212;
Ilawes1 Sermon.
BllAIXERD, DAVID, an eminent preacher and
missionary to the Indians, died at Northampton
Oct. 9, 1747, aged 29; his gravestone by mistake
says Oct. 10. lie was born at Iladdam, Conn.,
April 20, 1718. His grandfather was Deac'on
Daniel B., who was born in Braintree, Essex,
England, and who settled in Iladdam about 1GGO,
and died in 1715. He came to this country at
the age of eight, in the Wyllys family, about
1649 ; bis wife was Hannah, daughter of Jared
Spencer. His father, Ilezekiah Brainerd, was au
assistant of the colony, or a member of the
council, who died when his son was about nine
years of age ; his mother, Dorothy, the daughter
of Ilev. Jeremiah llobart, and widow of D.
Mason, died when he was fourteen years of age.
His elder brother, Ilezekiah, was a representative
of Iladdam ; and his brother Xehcmiah, who
died in 1742, was a minister in Glastenbury. His
sister, Martha, married Gen. Joseph Spencer, of
East Iladdam. As his mind was early impressed
by the truths of religion, he took delight in read
ing those books which communicate religious
instruction ; he called upon the name of God in
secret prayer ; he studied the Scriptures with
great diligence ; and he associated with several
young persons for mutual encouragement and
assistance in the paths of wisdom. But in all this
he aftenvards considered himself as self-righteous,
as completely destitute of true piety, as governed
by the fear of future punishment and not by the
love of God, as depending for salvation upon his
good feelings and his strict life, without a per
ception of the necessity and the value of the
mediation of Christ. At this time he indeed
acknowledged, that he deserved nothing for his
best works, for the theory of salvation was
familiar to him ; but while he made the acknowl
edgment, he did not feel what it implied. lie
still secretly relied upon the warmth of his affec
tions, upon his sincerity, upon some quality in
himself, as the ground of acceptance with God ;
instead of relying upon the Lord Jesus, through
whom alone there is access to the Father. At
length lie was brought under a deep sense of his
sinfulncss, and he perceived, that there was
nothing <:ood in himself. This conviction was not
a sudden perturbation of mind ; it was a perma
nent impression, made by the view of his own
character, when compared with that holy law of
God, which he was bound to obey. But the
discovery was unwelcome and irritating. He
could not readily abandon the hope, which rested
upon his religious exercises. He was reluctant to
admit, that the principle, whence all his actions
proceeded, was entirely corrupt. He was opposed
to the strictness of the Divine law, which extended
to the heart as well as to the life. He murmured
against the doctrines, that faith was indispensably
necessary to salvation, and that faith was com
pletely the gift of God. He was irritated in not
finding any way pointed out, which would lead
him to the Saviour; in not finding any means
prescribed, by which an unrenewcd man could of
his own strength obtain that, which the highest
angel could not give. He was unwilling to
j believe, that he was dead in trespasses and in
sins. But these unpleasant truths were fastened
I upon his mind, and they could not be shaken oft'.
It pleased God to disclose to him his true character
and condition, and to quell the tumult of his soul,
lie saw that lus schemes to save himself were
entirely vain, and must forever be ineffectual ; he
perceived that it was self-interest which had
before led him to pray, and that he had never
once .prayed from any respect to the glory of
God; he felt that he was lost. In this state of
mind, while he was walking in a solitary, place in
the evening of July 12, 1739, meditating upon
religious subjects, his mind was illuminated with
128
BRAINEim
BRAINERD.
completely new views of the Divine perfections ;
he perceived a glory in the character of God and
in the way of salvation by the crucified Son of the
Most High, which he never before discerned ;
and he was led to depend upon Jesus Christ for
righteousness, and to seek the glory of God as
his principal object.
In September, 1739, he was admitted a mem
ber of Yale college, but he was expelled in Feb
ruary, 1742. The circumstances which led to this
expulsion were these : There had been great
attention to religion in the college, and Mr.
Braincrd, whose feelings were naturally warm,
and whose soul was interested in the progress of
the gospel, was misled by an intemperate zeal,
and was guilty of indiscretions, which at that
time were not unfrequcnt. In a conversation
with some of his associates he expressed his be
lief, that one of the tutors was destitute of
religion. Being in part overheard, his associates
were compelled by the rector to declare, respect
ing whom he was speaking ; and he was required
to make a public confession in the hall. Braincrd
thought, that it was unjust to extort from his
friends what he had uttered in conversation, and
that the punishment was too severe. As he re
fused to make the confession, and as he had been
guilty of going to a separate meeting after pro
hibition by the authority of college, he was
expelled. In the circumstances, which led to this
result, there appears a strong disposition to hunt
up offences against the " New Lights," as those
who were attached to the preaching of Mr. Whit-
field and Tcnnent, were then called. It was not so
strange that a young man should have been in
discreet, as that he should confess himself to have
been so. Mr. Brainerd afterwards perceived that
he had been uncharitable and had done wrong,
and with sincerity and humility he acknowledged
his error and exhibited a truly Christian spirit ;
but he never obtained his degree. Though he
felt no resentment, and ever lamented his own
conduct ; yet he always considered himself as
abused in the management of this affair.
In the spring of 1742 he went to llipton, to
pursue the study of divinity under the care of
Mr. Mills ; and at the end of July was licensed to
preach, by the association of ministers which met
at Danbury, after they had made inquiries re
specting his learning, and his acquaintance with
experimental religion. Soon after he began his
theological studies, he was desirous of preaching
the gospel to the heathen, and frequently prayed
for them. In November, after he was licensed,
he was invited to go to New York, and was ex
amined by the correspondents of the society for
propagating Christian knowledge, and was ap
pointed by them a missionary to the Indians.
He arrived on the first of April, 1743, at Kau-
nameek, an Indian village in the woods between
Stockbridge, in the State of Massachusetts, and
Albany, at the distance of about twenty miles
from the former place and fifteen miles from
Kinderhook. lie now began his labors at the
age of twenty-five, and continued in this place
about a year. At first he lived in a wigwam
among the Indians ; but he afterwards built him
self a cabin, that he might be alone, when not
employed in preaching and instructing the savages.
lie lodged upon a bundle of straw, and his food
was principally boiled corn, hasty pudding, and
samp. With a feeble body, and frequent illness,
and great depression of mind, he was obliged to
encounter many discouragements, and to submit
to hardships, which would be almost insupporta
ble by a much stronger constitution. But he
persisted in his benevolent labors, animated by
the hope that he should prove the means of
illuminating some darkened mind with the truth
as it is in Jesus. Besides his exertions, which
had immediate reference to the instruction of the
savages, he studied much, and employed much
time in the delightful employment of communing
in the wilderness with that merciful Being, who
is present in all places, and who is the support
and joy of all Christians. When the Indians at
Kaunamcek had agreed to remove to Stockbridge
and place themselves under the instruction of
Mr. Sergeant, Mr. Brainerd left them and bent
his attention towards the Delaware Indians.
He was ordained at Newark in New Jersey by
a Presbytery, June 12, 1744, on which occasion
Mr. Pemberton of New York preached a sermon.
He soon afterwards went to the new field of his
labors, near the forks of the Delaware in Penn
sylvania, and continued there a year, making two
visits to the Indians on Susquehannah river. He
again built him a cabin for retirement ; but here
he had the happiness to find some white people,
with whom he maintained family prayer. After
the hardships of his abode in this place, with but
little encouragement from the effect of his exer
tions, he visited the Indians at Crosweeksung,
near Freehold in New Jersey. In this village he
was favored with remarkable success. The Spirit
of God seemed to bring home effectually to the
hearts of the ignorant heathens the truths, which
he delivered to them with affection and zeal.
His Indian interpreter, who had been converted
by his preaching, cooperated cheerfully in the
good work. It was not uncommon for the whole
congregation to be in tears, or to be crying out
under a sense of sin. In less than a year Mr.
Brainerd baptized seventy-seven persons, of whom
thirty-eight were adults, that gave satisfactory
evidence of having been renovated by. the power
of God ; and he beheld with unspeakable pleasure
between twenty and thirty of his converts seated
around the table of the Lord. The Indians were
at the time entirely reformed in their lives. They
BRAINERD.
BRAINERD.
129
were very humble and devout, and united in Chris
tian affection. In a letter, dated Dec. 30, 1745, he
says : " The good work which you will find largely
treated of in my journal, still continues among
the Indians ; though the astonishing Divine influ
ence, that has been among them, is in a consider
able measure abated. Yet there are several in
stances of persons newly awakened. When I
consider the doings of the Lord among these
Indians, and then take a view of my journal, I
must say, 't is a faint representation I have given
of them." Nor is there any evidence, that he
misjudged. The lives of these Indian converts
in subsequent years, under John Brainerd and
William Tennent, were, in general, holy and ex
emplary, furnishing evidence of the sincerity of
their faith in the gospel.
In the summer of 1746 Mr. Brainerd visited
the Indians on the Susquehannah, and on his
return in September found himself worn out by
the hardships of his journey. His health was
so much impaired, that he was able to preach
but Kttle more. Being advised in the spring of
1747 to travel in New England, he went as far
as Boston, and returned in July to Northampton,
where, in the family of Jonathan Edwards, he
passed the remainder of his days. He gradually
declined till Tuesday, Oct. 9, 1747, when, after
suffering inexpressible agony, he entered upon
that rest which remaineth for the faithful ser
vants of God.
Mr. Brainerd was a man of vigorous powers
of mind. While he was favored with a quick
discernment and ready invention, with a strong
memory and natural eloquence, he also possessed
in an uncommon degree the penetration, the
closeness and force of thought, and the sound
ness of judgment which distinguish the man of
talents from him who subsists entirely upon the
learning of others. His knowledge was exten
sive, and he added to his other attainments an
intimate acquaintance with human nature, gained
not only by observing others, but by carefully
noticing the operations of his own mind. As he
was of a sociable disposition, and could adapt
himself with great ease to the different capacities,
tempers, and circumstances of men, he was re
markably fitted to communicate instruction. He
was very free, and entertaining, and useful in his
ordinary discourse; and he was also an able
disputant. As a preacher he was perspicuous
and instructive, forcible, close, and pathetic. He
abhorred an affected boistcrousness in the pulpit,
and yet he could not tolerate a cold delivery,
when the subject of discourse was such as should
warm the heart, and produce an earnestness of
manner.
His knowledge of theology was uncommonly
extensive and accurate. President Edwards,
whose opinion of Mr. Brainerd was founded upon
17
an intimate acquaintance with him, says, that
" He never knew his equal, of his age and stand
ing, for clear, accurate notions of the nature and
essence of true religion, and its distinctions from
its various false appearances." Mr. Brainerd had
no charity for the religion of those, who, indulging
the hope that they were interested in the Divine
mercy, settled down in a state of security and
negligence. He believed that the good man
would be continually making progress towards
perfection, and that conversion was not merely a
great change in the views of the mind and the
affections of the heart, produced by the Spirit of
God ; but that it was the beginning of a course
of holiness, which through the Divine agency
would be pursued through life. From the ardor
with which he engaged in missionary labors, some
may be led to conclude, that his mind was open
to the influence of fanaticism. During his resi
dence at college, his spirit was indeed somewhat
tinged with the zeal of bitterness ; but it was not
long before he was restored to true benevolence
and the pure love of the truth. From this time
he detested enthusiasm in all its forms. He rep
robated all dependence upon impulses, or im
pressions on the imagination, or the sudden sug
gestion of texts of Scripture. He withstood every
doctrine which seemed to verge towards antino-
mianism, particularly the sentiments of those who
thought that faith consists in believing, that Christ
died for them in particular, and who founded their
love of God, not upon the excellence of his char
acter, but upon the previous impression that they
were the objects of his favor, and should assuredly
be saved. He rebuffed the pride and presumption
of laymen, who thrust themselves forth as public
teachers and decried human learning and a learned
ministry ; he detested the spirit, Avhich generally
influenced the Separatists through the country;
and he was entirely opposed to that religion,
which was fond of noise and show, and delighted
to publish its experiences and privileges. Very
different from the above was the religion which
Mr. Brainerd approved, and which he displayed
in his own life. In his character were combined
the most ardent and pure love to God and the
most unaffected benevolence to man, an alienation
from the vain and perishable pursuits of the world,
the most humbling and constant sense of lu's own
iniquity, which was a greater burden to him than
all his afflictions, great brokenness of heart before
God for the coldness of his love and the imper
fection of his Christian virtues, the most earnest
breathings of soul after holiness, real delight in
the gospel of Jesus Christ, sweet complacence in
all his disciples, incessant desires and importunate
prayers that men might be brought to the knowl
edge and the obedience of the truth, and that
thus God might be glorified and the kingdom of
Christ advanced, great resignation to the will of
130
BRAIXERD.
BRAIXERD.
his heavenly Father, an entire distrust of his own
heart and a universal dependence upon God, the
absolute renunciation of everything for his Re
deemer, the most clear and abiding views of the
things of the eternal world, a continual warfare
against sin, and the most unwearied exertion of
all his powers in the service and in obedience to
the commands of the Most High. He believed that
the essence of true religion consists in the confor
mity of the soul to God, in acting above all selfish
\iews, for his glory, desiring to please and honor
him in all things, and that from a view of his excel
lency, and worthiness in himself to be loved, adored,
and obeyed by all intelligent creatures. When
this divine temper is wrought in the soul by the
special influences of the Holy Spirit, discovering
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, he
believed that the Author of all good could not
but delight in his own image, and would most
certainly complete his own work, which he had
begun in the human heart. His religion did not
consist in speculation ; but he carried his own
principles into practice. Resisting the solicita
tions of selfishness, he consecrated his powers to
the high and benevolent objects, enjoined in the
Sci-iptures. It was his whole aim to promote in
the most effectual manner the glory of his Re
deemer. After the termination of a year's fruit
less mission at Kaunamcek, where he had suffered
the greatest hardships, he was invited to become
the minister of East Hampton, one of the best
parishes on Long Island ; but though he was not
insensible to the pleasures of a quiet and fixed
abode, among Christian friends, in the midst of
abundance ; yet, without the desire of fame, he
preferred the dangers and sufferings of a new
mission among savages. He loved his Saviour,
and wished to make known his precious name
among the heathen.
In his last illness and during the approaches of
death he was remarkably resigned and composed.
He spoke of that willingness to die, which origi
nates in the desire of escaping pain, and in the
hope of obtaining pleasure or distinction in
heaven, as very ignoble. The heaven, which he
seemed to anticipate, consisted in the love and
sendee of God. " It is impossible," said he, " for
any rational creature to be happy without acting
all for God. I long to be in heaven, praising and
glorifying him with the angels. There is nothing
in the world worth living for, but doing good and
finishing God's work; doing the work, which
Christ did. I see nothing else in the world, that
can yield any satisfaction, besides living to God,
pleasing him, and doing his whole will. My
greatest comfort and joy has been to do some
thing for promoting the interests of religion, and
for the salvation of the souls of particular per
sons." When he was about to be separated for
ever from the earth, his desires seemed to be as
eager as ever for the progress of the gospel. He
spoke much of the prosperity of Zion, of the in
finite importance of the work which was committed
to the ministers of Jesus Christ, and of the ne
cessity, which was imposed upon them, to be
constant and earnest in prayer to God for the
success of their exertions. A little while before
his death he said to Mr. Edwards : " My thoughts
have been much employed on the old, dear theme,
the prosperity of God's church on earth. As I
waked out of sleep, I was led to cry for the pour
ing out of God's Spirit and the advancement of
Christ's kingdom, which the dear Redeemer did
and suffered so much for ; it is tin's especially
which makes me long for it." He felt at this time
a peculiar concern for his own congregation of
Christian Indians. Eternity was before him with
all its interests. " T is sweet to me," said he, "to
think of eternity. But O, what shall I say to
the eternity of the wicked ! I cannot mention it,
nor think of it. The thought is too dreadful ! "
In answer to the inquiry, how he did, he said : " I
am almost in eternity ; I long to be there. My
work is done. I have done with all my friends.
All the world is now nothing to me. O, to be
in heaven, to praise and glorify God with his holy
angels ! " At length, after the trial of his pa
tience by the most excruciating sufferings, his
spirit was released from its tabernacle of clay, and
entered those mansions which the Lord Jesus
hath prepared for all his faithful disciples.
The exertions of Mr. Brainerd in the Chris
tian cause were of short continuance, but they
were intense, and incessant, and effectual. One
must be either a very good or a very bad man,
who can read his life without blushing for himself.
If ardent piety and enlarged benevolence, if the
supreme love of God and the inextinguishable
desire of promoting his glory in the salvation of
immortal souls, if persevering resolution in the
midst of the most pressing discouragements, if
cheerful self-denial and unremitted labor, if hu
mility and zeal for godliness, united with conspic
uous talents, render a man worthy of remem
brance; the name of Brainerd will not soon be
forgotten.
He published a narrative of his labors at Kaun-
ameek, annexed to Mr. Pembcrton's sermon at
his ordination; and his journal, or an account of
the rise and progress of a remarkable work of
grace amongst a number of Indians in New Jer
sey and Pennsylvania, with some general remarks,
1746. This work, which is very interesting, and
which displays the piety and talents of the author,
was published by the commissioners of the soci
ety in Scotland, with a preface by them, and an
attestation by W. Tennent and Mr. McKnight.
His life, written by President Edwards, is com
piled chiefly from his own diary. Annexed to it
are some of his letters and other writings. It is a
BRATNERD.
BRAXT.
131
book which is well calculated to enkindle a flame
of benevolence and piety in the breast. A new
edition of his memoirs was published in 1822 by
Sereno Edwards Dwight, including his journal.
Mr. Edwards had omitted the already printed
journals, which had been published in two parts:
the first, from June 19 to Nov. 4, 1745, entitled
Mirabilia Dei inter Indices ; the second, from Nov.
24, 1745, to June 19, 1746, with the title, Divine
grace displayed, &c. These journals Mr. Dwight
has incorporated in a regular chronological series
with the rest of the diary, as alone given by Ed
wards. — Brainerd's Life; his Journal; Ed
wards'1 Fun. Sermon ; Middleton's Bio(j. Evang.
IV. 262-264 ; Assembly Miss. Mag. n. 449-452 ;
Boston Recorder, 1824, p. 196.
BRAINERD, JOHN, a missionary, brother of
the preceding, died about 1780. He was graduated
at Yale college in 1746, and was a trustee of
Princeton college from 1754 to 1780. The Indian
congregation of his brother being removed from
Crosweeksung or Crosweeks to Cranberry, not
far distant, he succeeded his brother in the mis
sion about the year 1748. His efforts were inces
sant for their good ; but he had to encounter
great difficulties. A drunken Indian sold their
lands ; the greedy government of New Jersey
was hostile to the tribe ; and Mr. Brainerd, unable
to support a schoolmaster, endeavored himself,
amidst numerous avocations, to teach them the
elements of learning as well as the truths of re
ligion. The place of his residence in 1754 was
Bethel, whence he wrote to Dr. Wheelock : " It
belongs to thousands to endeavor to Christianize
the Indians, as well as to us. It is as really their
duty, and would be every way as much to their
advantage, as ours. If the country in general
were but sensible of their obligation, how would
they exert themselves, how freely would they dis
burse of their substance, and what pains would
they take to accomplish this great and good
work?" About 1755 Wm. Tennent succeeded
him. In 1763 he lived at Great Egg Harbor.
In 1772 he lived at Brotherton, N. J.
BRAXT, JOSEPH, a famous Indian chief, was at
the head of the sk nations, so called, in the State
of XTew York. Each of these was divided into
three or more tribes, called the turtle tribe, the
wolf tribe, the bear tribe. He was a Mohawk of
pure Indian blood. His father, Brant, a chief,
was denominated an Onondaga Indian, and about
the year 1756 had three sons in Sir Wm. John
son's army. Young Brant was sent by Sir Wil
liam to Dr. Wheelock's Indian charity school at
Lebanon Crank, now the town of Columbia, Con
necticut ; and after he had been there educated,
employed him in public business. His Indian
name was Thayendancga. About the year 1762
Rev. Charles J. Smith, a missionary to the Mo
hawks, took Brant as his interpreter ; but the Avar
obliging him to return, Brant remained and went
out with a company against the Indians, behaving
"so much like the Christian and the soldier, that
he gained great esteem." In 1765 his house was
an asylum for the missionaries in the wilderness,
and he exerted himself for the religious instruc
tion of his poor Indian brethren. In 1775 he
visited England ; and it was there perceived, of
course, after the education he had received, that
he spoke and wrote the English language with
tolerable accuracy. In the war, which commenced
in that year, he attached himself to the British
cause. The barbarities attending the memorable
destruction of the beautiful settlement of Wyo
ming, in July, 1778, have been ascribed to him by
the writers of American history and by Camp
bell in his poem, Gertrude of Wyoming ; but
Brant was not present in that massacre ; the In
dians were commanded by Col. John Butler, a
tory and refugee, whose heart was more ferocious
than that of any savage. Col. Brant, however,
was the undisputed leader of the band, which in
July, 1779, destroyed the settlement of Minisink
in Orange county, New York, a few miles from
West Point. In June he left Niagara with about
three hundred warriors of the six nations and a
number of tories, for the purpose of destroying
the settlements upon the Delaware river. On the
20th of July he appeared on the west of Mini-
sink and sent down a party, which, after destroy
ing the settlement, returned with their booty to
the main body at Grassy-swamp brook. The next
day one hundred and twenty men assembled under
the command of a physician, Col. Tusten, and
marched seventeen miles toward the enemy. In
the morning of July 22d, Col. Hathorn arrived
and took the command, and in a short time the
battle commenced and lasted the whole day.
The fire was irregular, from behind trees and
rocks, both by the Indians and Americans, every
man fighting in his own way. Brant and his whole
force were engaged. About sunset our troops, hav
ing expended their ammunition, retreated and were
pursued by the savages. Dr. Tusten, in a nook
of rocks, had dressed the wounds of seventeen
men, whose cries for protection and mercy, when
they heard the retreat ordered, were piercing to
the soul ; but they all perished, with Dr. Tusten,
under the Indian tomahawk. On this day forty-
four Americans fell, some of whom were the pride
and flower of the village of Goshen. Among
them were Jones, Little, Duncan, Wisner, Vail,
Townsend, and Knapp. Major Poppino, who
escaped, lived to nearly one hundred years, and
was present with an assemblage of ten or twelve
thousand people, when their bones were buried
July 22, 1822. After the peace of 1783 Brant
visited England, and passed the remainder of his
life in Upper Canada. In 1785 he in self-de
fence killed one of his sons, who in a fit of
132
BRATTLE.
drunkenness had attempted his life; in conse
quence of this act he resigned his commission of
captain in the British service, and surrendered
himself to justice ; but Lord Dorchester, the gov
ernor, would not accept his resignation. He sent
his two sons, Joseph and Jacob, in 1801, to the
care of President Wheelock, of Dartmouth col
lege, to be educated in Moor's school. He died
at his seat in Upper Canada, at the head of Lake
Ontario, Nov. 24, 1807, aged 65. His daughter
married Win. J. Kerr, Esq., of Niagara, in 1824.
His son, John, an Indian chief, was in England
in 1822, and placed before the poet, Campbell,
documents to prove that his father was not pres
ent at the massacre at Wyoming, and that he was
in fact a man of humanity. After reading them
Campbell published a letter, in which he recanted
the charges of ferocity, advanced in his Gertrude ;
but he assigns rather an inadequate reason for
this change in the estimate of his character,
namely, that Brant enjoyed the friendship of
some high-minded British officers, which would
not have been the case, had he been ferocious,
and destitute of amiable qualities. In the war of
the Revolution he was doubtless the leader of
savages, who took delight in scalps ; he was un
deniably in command, when the wounded of Min-
isink were butchered ; yet the slaughter may have
occurred entirely without his orders. Probably
his subsequent intercourse with civilized men and
reading the New Testament may have softened
his character. I am able to state, on the author
ity of his son Joseph, that as he lay in his bed
and looked at the sword hanging up in his bed
room, with which he had killed his son, he was
accustomed to cry in the sorrow of his heart. He
once proposed to write a history of the six na
tions. He published the book of common prayer
and the gospel of Mark, in the Mohawk and
English languages, 8vo. London, 1787. The
gospel according to St. John, in Mohawk, entitled
Nene Karighwiysoston tsinihorighhote-n ne Saint
John, which is ascribed to him in the Cambridge
catalogue, was the w~ork of the chief, John Norton ;
it is without date, but was printed at London in
1807 or 1808 by the British and foreign Bible so
ciety, in an edition of two thousand copies. —
Holmes, II. 292, 302; Mass. Hist. Coll. X. 154;
Phil. Trans. LXXVI. 231; Panoplist, m. 323,
324 ; Weld's Trav. II. 297 ; Wheelock's Narra
tive ; Eastern Argus, May 7, 1822.
BRATTLE, THOMAS, a respectable merchant
of Boston, was born Sept. 5, 1657, and was grad
uated at Harvard college in 1676, and was after
wards treasurer of that institution. He was a
principal founder of the church in Brattle street,
of which Dr. Colman was the first minister. His
death occurred May 18, 1713, in the fifty-sixth
year of his age. He was brother-in-law of Mr.
Pemberton. Seyeral of his communications on
BRATTLE.
astronomical subjects were published in the philo
sophical transactions. He wrote an excellent let
ter, giving an account of the witchcraft delusion
in 1692, which is preserved in the Hist. Collec-
lections. — Holmes, I. 511; Colman's Life, 42;
Coll. Hist. Soc. v. 61-79.
BRATTLE, WILLIAM, minister of Cambridge,
Mass., brother of the preceding, died Feb. 15,
1717, aged 54. He was born in Boston about the
year 1662, and was graduated at Harvard college
in 1680. lie was afterwards for several years a
tutor and fellow of that seminary. He exerted
himself to form his pupils to virtue and the fear
of God, punishing vice with the authority of a
master, and cherishing every virtuous disposition
with parental goodness. When the small pox
prevailed in the college, he was not driven away
in terror ; but with benevolent courage remained
at his post, and visited the sick, both that he might
administer to them relief, and might impress
upon them those truths which were necessary to
their salvation. As he had never experienced
the disease, he now took it in the natural way ;
for the practice of inoculation had not been intro
duced into America. But the course of the dis
order was mild, and he was soon restored to his
usual health. He was ordained pastor of the
church in Cambridge, as successor of Mr. Gookin,
Nov. 25, 1696, and after a useful ministry of
twenty years was succeeded by Dr. Appleton.
His funeral was attended Feb. 20, a day memora
ble for the great snow which then commenced,
and which detained for several days at Cambridge
the magistrates and ministers, who were assem
bled on the occasion. The snow was six feet
deep in some parts of the streets of Boston.
Mr. Brattle was a very religious, good man, an
able divine, and an excellent scholar. Such was
his reputation for science, that he was elected a
fellow of the royal society. He was polite and
affable, compassionate and charitable. Having a
large estate, he distributed of his abundance with
a liberal hand ; but his charities were secret and
silent. His pacific spirit and his moderation were
so conspicuous, as to secure to him the respect of
all denominations. So remarkable was his pa
tience under injuries, and such a use did he make
of the troubles of life, that he was heard to ob
serve, that he knew not how he could have spared
any of his trials. Uniting courage with his hu
mility, he was neither bribed by the favor, nor
overawed by the displeasure of any man. He
was a man of great learning and abilities, and at
once a philosopher and a divine. But he placed
neither learning nor religion in unprofitable spec
ulations, but in such solid and substantial truth,
as improves the mind and is beneficial to the
world. The promotion of religion, learning, vir
tue, and peace was the great object, in which he
was constantly employed. As he possessed pen-
BRATTLE.
etration and a sound judgment, his counsel was
often sought and highly respected. Such was his
regard to the interests of literature, that he be
queathed to Harvard college 250 pounds, besides
a much greater sum in other charitable and pious
legacies. With regard to his manner of preach
ing, Dr. Colman, comparing him and Mr. Pember-
ton, who died about the same time, observes :
" They performed the public exercises in the
house of God with a great deal of solemnity,
though in a manner somewhat different ; for Mr.
Brattle was all calm, and soft, and melting; but
Mr. Pemberton was all flame, zeal, and earnest
ness." The death of this good man, after a lan
guishing disease, was peaceful and serene.
He published a system of logic, entitled, " com
pendium logicte secundum principia D. Renati
Cartesii plerumque efformatum et catechistice pro-
positum." It was held in high estimation, and
long recited at Harvard college. An edition of
it was published in the year 1758. — Holmes Hist.
Cambridge; Coll. Hist. Soc. VII. 32, 5.3-59 ; X.
168; Holmes, II. 94; Boston News-Letter, No.
671.
BRATTLE, WILLIAM, a man of extraordinary
talents and character, the son of the preceding,
died in Oct., 1776, aged about 75. He was grad
uated at Harvard college in 1722. He was a
representative of Cambridge in the general court,
and was long a member of the council. He
studied theology and preached with acceptance.
His eminence as a lawyer drew around him an
abundance of clients. As a physician his practice
was extensive and celebrated. He was also a
military man, and obtained the appointment of
major-general of the militia. While he secured
the favor of the governor of the State, he also in
gratiated himself with the people. In his conduct
there were many eccentricities. He was attached
to the pleasures of the table. At the commence
ment of the American Revolution an unhappy
sympathy in the plans of General Gage induced
him to retire to Boston, from which place he ac
companied the troops to Halifax, where he died.
His first wife was the daughter of Gov. Salton-
stall ; his second was the widow of James Allen,
and daughter of Col. Fitch. His son, Thomas
Brattle, of Cambridge, died Feb. 7, 1801.—
Coll. Hist. Soc. VII. 58; vm. 82.
BRAXTON, CARTER, a member of congress in
1776, died October 10, 1797, aged 61. He
was the son of George Braxton, a rich plan
ter of Newington, King and Queen's county,
Virginia, born Sept. 10, 1736. His mother was
the daughter of Robert Carter of the council.
After being educated at William and Mary col
lege, he married and settled down as an inde
pendent planter. On the death of his wife he
visited England, and returned in 1760. By lu's
second wile, the daughter of Richard Corbin of
BREARLEY.
133
Lanneville, he had sixteen children : she died in
1814, and all the children but one were dead before
1829. In 1765 he became a member of the house
of burgesses, and was distinguished for his pat
riotic zeal. In November, 1775, he was elected
the successor of Peyton Randolph in congress,
but continued a member of that body only till
the signing of the declaration of independence.
During the remainder of his life he was often
a member of the legislature and council of Vir
ginia. His talents were respectable ; his oratory
easy ; lu's manners peculiarly agreeable. His last
days were embittered by unfortunate commercial
speculations, and vexatious lawsuits : some of his
friends, his sureties, suffered with him. Though
in early life a gentleman of large fortune, he
found himself, in his old age, by his own impru
dence, involved in inextricable embarrassments.
Happy arc they, who are wisely content with
their lot, and who use liberally their wealth, not
for display, but for the purposes of a noble char
ity. — GoodriclCs Lives.
BRAY, THOMAS, D. D., ecclesiastical commis
sary for Maryland and Virginia, died Feb. 15,
1730, aged 73. He was sent out by the bishop of
London, in 1699, and was indefatigable in his
efforts to promote religion in the colonies, and
among the Indians and Negroes. Libraries were
instituted by him, both for missionaries and
parishes. He crossed the Atlantic several times, _
and spent the greater part of his life in these
labors. Soliciting the charities of others, he
in his disinterested zeal contributed the whole
of his small fortune to the support of his
plans. Through lu's exertions parish libraries
were established in England, and various benevo
lent societies in London were instituted, particu
larly the society for the propagation of the gospel
in foreign parts. He published a memorial on
the state of religion in North America with pro
posals for the propagation of religion in the sev
eral provinces ; circular letters to the clergy of
Maryland; cursus catecheticus Americanus, 1700;
apostolic charity ; bibliotheca parochialis ; dis
course on the baptismal covenant.
BRAZER, JOHN, D. I)., died at Charleston, S.
C., Feb. 26, 1846, aged 56. Born in Worcester,
he graduated in Cambridge, in 1813 ; he was
afterwards a professor. He was ordained over
the north society in Salem, Nov. 14, 1820, suc
cessor of J. E. Abbott. Many of his writings ap
peared in the north American Review. He pub
lished a sermon at the ordination of J. Cole ; on
the death of Dr. Holyoke ; at the installation of
A. Bigelow ; Memoir of Dr. Holyoke ; before
society for education; several in the Christian
preacher ; use of affliction ; on prayer ; power of
unitarianism over the affections.
BREARLEY, DAVID, chief justice of New
Jersey, died Aug. 23, 1790, aged, it is said, only
134
BREARLEY.
BRECK.
26. He was born in that State in 1763, and
received the degree of A. M. at Princeton, in
1781. He attained to great eminence at the bar.
Soon after he received the appointment of judge,
he died at his seat near Trenton. He Avas ap
pointed by Washington in 1789, district judge for
New Jersey, and was succeeded by Robert Morris.
BREARLEY, JOSEPH, general, died at Mor-
ristown, in 1805, aged 93.
BREBEUF, JEAN DE, a Jesuit missionary
among the Indians in Canada, arrived at Quebec
in 1625. According to Charlevoix, he twice, when
among the Hurons, in a time of drought, obtained
rain in answer to his prayers. However, taken
prisoner by the Iroquois in 1649, he was cruelly
put to death by them, with his associate, father
Lallemant. Amidst their barbarities, the savages
said to him, " You have assured us, that the
more one suffers on earth the greater will be his
happiness in heaven ; out of kindness to you, we
therefore torture you." At least Charlevoix re
ports that they said so. Brebeuf was 55 years of
age. He was the uncle of the poet of Normandy,
George de B. He translated into Huron an
abridgment of the Christian doctrine by Ledes-
ma. This is annexed to Champlaiu's relation du
voyage, 1632. — Charlevoix, I. 294.
BRECK, ROBERT, a minister of Marlborough,
died Jan. 6, 1731, aged 48. He was born in
Dorchester in 1682, the son of Captain John
Breck, a very ingenious and worthy man, and
grandson of Edward Breck, a settler of Dorches
ter in 1636. After his father's death he was sent
to Harvard college, where he graduated in 1700.
He was ordained Oct. 25, 1704, as successor of
Mr. Brimsmead. His successors were Kent,
Smith, and Packard. He left a wife and four
children. His wife was Elizabeth Waimvright
of Haverhill. A daughter married Rev. Mr,
Parkman, of Westborough. He was a man of
vigorous talents, of quick perception, and tena
cious memory, of solid judgment, and exten
sive learning. So great was his skill in the He
brew, that he read the Bible out of it to his
family. He was also well versed in philosophy,
mathematics, antiquities, and history ; and his
extensive knowledge he was always ready to com
municate for the instruction of others. As a pas
tor he was prudent and faithful ; he Avas an ortho
dox, close, methodical preacher. He Avas a strong
disputant ; a strenuous asserter of the privileges of
the churches ; and an opponent of Episcopal claims.
United Avith his piety, he possessed a singular cour
age and resolution. Before his settlement he
preached some time on Long Island, during the
administration of Gov. Cornbury, \vhen, though a
young man, he boldly asserted the principles of the
nonconformists, notwithstanding the threatening
and other ill-treatment, Avhich he experienced.
In temper, he was grave and meditative, yet at
times cheerful, and in comrersation entertaining.
A perfect stranger to coA'etousness, he was ever
hospitable and charitable. In severe pain he Avas
resigned ; and his end was peace. So great AA'as
the esteem, in Avhich he was held, that in his
sickness a day of fasting was kept for him Oct.
15, 1730, Avhen scA-eral ministers were present;
and on his death, sermons Avere preached by SAvift
of Framingham, Prentice of Lancaster, and Lor-
ing of Sudbury. He published an election ser
mon, 1728 ; the danger of falling aAvay after a
profession; a sacramental sermon, 1728. — Bos
ton Weekly News-Letter, Jan. 21; Weekly Jour
nal, Jan. 18, 1731 ; Loring's Sermon.
BRECK, ROBERT, minister of Springfield, died
April 23, 1784, aged 70. He was the son of the
preceding, and Avas graduated at Hansard college,
in 1730. He was ordained Jan. 27, 1736. His
settlement occasioned an unhappy controversy.
It Avas alleged against him, that he did not deem
a knoAvledge of Jesus Christ necessary to the sal
vation of the heathen, and that he treated lightly
of the atonement. A narrative relating to his or
dination Avas published ; folloAved by " an ansAver
to the Hampshire narrative ; " and this by " a
letter " to the author of the narrative, 1737. His
superior intellectual poAvers Avcre enlarged by an
extensive acquaintance with men and books. He
accustomed himself to a close manner of thinking
and reasoning. By diligent application, he ac
quired a rich fund of the most usel'ul knowledge.
His disposition was remarkably cheerful and
pleasant, and his conversation Avas entertaining
and instructive, sometimes enlivened by humor,
but ahvays consistent with the sobriety of the
Christian and the dignity of the minister. He
Avas easy of access, hospitable, compassionate, and
beneA-olent. His sense of human weakness and
depravity led him to admire the gracious provis
ion of the gospel, and he delighted to dAvell upon
it in his public discourses. His religious senti
ments he formed on a careful examination of the
Scriptures. Steady to his oAvn principles, he was
yet candid towards those who diii'cred from him.
In his last illness, he spoke in the humblest terms
of himself, but professed an entire reliance on
divine mercy through the Mediator, ar.d he
resigned himself to death with the dignity of a
Christian.
His first Avife was Eunice, daughter of his prede
cessor, Rev. D. BreAver ; his second wile was
Helena, the widow of RCA-. E. Dorr. His suc
cessor Avas Mr. HoAvard. His son, Robert, who
died at Northampton, in 1799, aged 63, Avas
clerk of the court of common pleas. The son of
the latter, Colonel John, died in N.,in 1827, aged
55 ; leaving sons, Dr. EdAvard, Robert, and Theo
dore, now citizens of Brecksvillc, Ohio.
He published a sermon, 1748; on the death
of Rev. D. Parsons, 1781 ; of Rev. S. Williams,
BRECK.
BREWER.
135
1782; at the ordination of D. Parsons, 1783;
also a century sermon Oct. 16, 1775, on the burn
ing of the town by the Indians. — Lathrop's Fu
neral Sermon; Holland's History of Western
Massachusetts, i. 201.
BRECK, SAMUEL, a merchant, removed from
Boston to Philadelphia, where he died May 7,
1809. His daughter married James Lloyd.
BRECK, DANIEL, died in Hartland, Vt., Dec.,
1845, aged 97. Born in Boston, he was reli
giously educated at Princeton, where he gradu
ated in 1774. As a chaplain he accompanied
Porter's regiment to Canada, and was in the
attack upon Quebec. He preached the first ser
mon at Marietta, on the text, " Of his kingdom
there shall be no end ; " having \isions of the
progress of the gospel in the vast western coun
try, lie was a man of high character and excel
lence, the father of Judge Breck of Kentucky.
BRECKENRIDGE, JOHN, attorney-general of
the United States, died at Lexington, Kentucky,
Dec. 14, 1806. He was elected a member of the
senate in the place of Humphrey Marshall, and
took his seat in 1801. In Jan., 1802, he submit
ted in the senate a resolution to repeal an act of
the preceding session respecting the judiciary
establishment of the United States, by which six
teen new circuit judges had been created. It
was this resolution, which called forth the most
astonishing powers of argument and eloquence.
In 1803 Mr. Breckenridge distinguished himself
by supporting resolutions in relation to Spanish
affairs of a milder complexion, than those advo
cated by Mr. Ross. After the resignation of Mr.
Lincoln of Mass., he was appointed attorney-
general in his place.
BRECKENRIDGE, JOHN, D.D., died near
Lexington, Ky., Aug. 4, 1841, aged 44. His
parents were John B. and Mary Hopkins Cabell,
of a Virginia family. He was one of nine chil
dren, born at Cabell's Dale, near Lexington,
where he died. He was a devoted preacher, and
wore himself out by his labors.
BRECKENRIDGE, ROBERT, general, died in
Lexington, Ky., in Sept., 1833, aged 78.
BREED, ALLEN, one of the first settlers of
Lynn, died March 17, 1692, aged 91. lie was
born in England in 1601 and arrived in this coun
try in 1630, probably in the Arabella at Salem,
June 12. He was a farmer and lived in the
western part of Summer street, Lynn, possess
ing two hundred acres of land. The village,
in which he resided, derived from him the
name of " Breed's End." He is one of the gran
tees, named in 1640 in the Indian deed of South
Hampton, Long Island, which was settled from
Lynn, by Rev. Mr. Fitch, and others. The name
of his wife was Elizabeth ; and his children were
Allen, Timothy, Joseph, and John. Of these,
Allen was living in 1692, when it was voted by
the town, that Allen Breed, senior, " should sit in
the pulpit." The descendants in Lynn and other
towns in Massachusetts, are numerous ; from one
of them was derived the name of Breed's Hill, in
Charlestown, celebrated for the battle of 1775,
called by mistake the battle of Bunker's Hill, for
the battle was fought on Breed's not Bunker's
Hill. One of his descendants at Lynn was Col.
Fred. B., an officer of the Revolution, who died
July, 1820, aged 68. Among the descendants in
Connecticut were Gershom Breed, an eminent
merchant of Norwich, and his sons, John M.
Breed, mayor of the city, a graduate of Yale,
1768; Shubael Breed, a graduate of 1778; and
Simeon Breed, a graduate of 1781. The widow
of the last is still living, aged 89, the sister of E.
Perkins, who died, aged above 100 years. —
Lewis' History of Lynn, 25 ; farmer's Register ;
I) wi (jlit's Travels, III. 313.
BREESE, SAMUEL SIDNEY, died in Sconondoa,
Oneida county, N. Y., Oct. 15, 1848, aged 80.
Born in Philadelphia, a descendant of the Hu
guenots, he was one of the first settlers of
Cazcnovia ; then was the law partner of Judge
Platt of Whitestown. In 1813, he became a far
mer for the rest of his life. He was a member of
the convention to form a new constitution. He
was an excellent citizen, and a sincere Christian.
His end was peace, through hope in the atoning
blood.
BRENTON, WILLIAM, Governor of Rhode
Island, was a representative of Boston for several
years from 1635. Of Rhode Island he was presi
dent between 1660 and 1661, and governor under
the charter from 1666 to 1669; in both which
offices he succceeded Arnold, and was succeeded
by him. He died in Newport, 1674. Several of
his descendants held important offices in the col
ony : they adhered to the royal government at the
Revolution. An admiral in the British navy was
a native of Newport. — Farmer's Keg.
. BRESSANI, FRANCISCO GIUSEPPE, a Jesuit
missionary, was a Roman by birth. He toiled
with much zeal in his mission among the Hurons
in Canada, until it was broken up. Having been
taken captive and tortured, he bore in his mutilated
hands for the rest of his life, the proofs of his suf
ferings. He died in Italy. In 1643 there was
published an account of his mission in Italian, en
titled, Breve relatione d' ulcune missioni, &c. —
Charlevoix.
BREWER, DANIEL, died at Springfield, Nov.
5, 1733, aged 65, in the 4()th year of his ministry.
He succeeded Mr. Glover, and was followed by
Mr. Breck. Born in Roxbury, he graduated at
Harvard in 1697, and was ordained in 1694. His
wife was Catharine, daughter of Rev. N. Chaun-
cey of Hatfield ; her sister, Sarah, married Rev.
136
BREWER.
BREWSTER.
S. Whittelsey of Wallingford. lie left six chil
dren, lie published : God's help to be sought in
time of war, 1724.
BREWER, CHAUXCEY, doctor, died at Spring
field, in 1830, aged 87, a graduate of Yale, 1762.
BREWSTER, WILLIAM, one of the Pilgrims
at Plymouth, the Elder and only teacher for some
years, died about April 16, 1644, aged 83. This
is the date given by Bradford ; but Morton says,
about April 18. He was born, probably, at
Scrooby, in 1560. As there was a William B. in
that town in 1571, he was probably the father
of Elder Brewster of Plymouth, who himseh0
passed the last years of his residence in England
at Scrooby, as a public officer. This place, which
is of great interest in American history, is a small
town in Nottinghamshire, only two miles south of
Bawtry, in Yorkshire, and ten miles west of Gains
borough, in Lincolnshire. It was a post town, and
had a small well-built church, and an Episcopal
manor, which was an occasional residence of the
Archbishop of York. The manor was built in
two courts, of timber, except the front, which was
of brick, with a moat around it. This, it will be
found, became the residence of Brewster. Noth
ing now remains of it, but the stone gateway.
On the wood-work of the church is seen a vine
bearing clusters of grapes. His family was one of
some eminence. The coat-armor of one of the
name, bore " a chevron ermine between three
silver etoiles on a sable field." Our Brewster
derives, in our view, no honor from his family ;
but the device of stars breaking through the dark
ness of night is a very suitable device for the
American Brewster. He was the chief light of
the Plymouth colony, in a dark wilderness.
Mr. Brewster was educated at the university of
Cambridge, where his mind was impressed with
religious truth, and he was renewed by the Spirit
of God. After completing his education he en
tered into the service of William Davison, am
bassador of Queen Elizabeth in Holland. This
gentleman, who was friendly to religion, possessed
the highest regard for Mr. Brewster, and reposed
in him the utmost confidence. He esteemed him
as a son. Mr. Brewster in return proved himself
not unworthy of the friendship, which he had ex
perienced ; for when Davison, who had been
appointed secretary of state, incurred the affected
displeasure of the queen for drawing, in com
pliance with her orders, the warrant for the exe
cution of Mary, he did not forsake his patron. He
remained with him, and gave him what assistance
it was in his power to afford, under the troubles,
with which it was the policy of Elizabeth to over
whelm the innocent secretary in the year 1587.
When he could no longer serve him, he retired to
the north of England among his old friends.
It was now, that he resided at Scrooby, where
he was post, or postmaster, from 1594 to Sept.
30, 1607. The recorded payments to him
amounted in that period to 456 pounds. He was
also inn-keeper to the travellers by post. As
there were no cross-posts he had to provide for
distant deliveries. If he had a good income, it
enabled him to exercise a generous hospitality ;
and his abode in the Archbishop's manor fur
nished a convenient place of meeting for the new
Puritan Separatist church.
His attention was now chiefly occupied by the
interests of religion. His life was exemplary, and
it seemed to be his great object to promote the
highest good of those around him. He endeavored
to excite their zeal for holiness, and to encourage
them in the practice of the Christian virtues. As
he possessed considerable property, he readily
and abundantly contributed towards the support
of the gospel. He exerted himself to procure
faithful preachers for the parishes in the neigh
borhood. By degrees he became disgusted with
the impositions of the prelatical party, and their
severity towards men of a moderate and peace
able disposition. As he discovered much corrup
tion in the constitution, forms, ceremonies, and
discipline of the established church, he thought
it his duty to withdraw from its communion, and
to establish with others a separate society. This
new church, under the pastoral care of the aged
Mr. Clifton and Mr. Robinson, met on the Lord's
days at Mr. Brewster's house, where they were
entertained at his expense, as long as they could
assemble without interruption. When at length
the resentment of the hierarchy obliged them to
seek refuge in a foreign country, he was the most
forward to assist in the removal. He was seized
with Mr. Bradford, in the attempt to go over to
Holland in 1607, and was imprisoned at Boston,
in Lincolnshire. He was the greatest sufferer of
the company, because he had the most property.
Having, with much difficulty and expense, obtained
his liberty, he first assisted the poor of the society
in their embarkation, and then followed them to
Holland.
He had a large family and numerous depend
ents; and his estate was exhausted. As his edu
cation had not fitted him for mechanical or mer
cantile employments, he was now pressed with
hardships. In this exigency he found a resource
in his learning and abilities. He opened a school
at Leyden, for instructing the youth of the city
and of the university in the English tongue ; and
being familiar with the Latin, with which they
were also acquainted, he found no impediment
from the want of a language common to both.
By means of a grammar, which he formed him
self, he soon assisted them to a correct knowledge
of the English. By the help of some friends
he also set up a printing-press, and published
several books against the hierarchy, which could
not obtain a license for pubh'cation in England.
BREWSTER.
Such was his reputation in the church at Ley-
den, that he was chosen a ruling elder, and he
accompanied the members of it, who came to New
England in 1620. He suffered with them all the
hardships attending their settlement in the wil
derness. He partook with them of labor, hunger,
and watching ; and his Bible and his sword were
equally familiar to him. As the church at Ply
mouth was for several years destitute of a minister,
Mr. BreAvster, who was venerable for his character
and years, officiated as a preacher, though he
could never be persuaded to administer the sacra
ments. According to the principles of the church,
the ruling elder, in the absence of the teaching
elder or pastor, was permitted to dispense the
word. No regular minister was procured before
the year 1629, when Ralph Smith was settled.
Previously to this period the principal care of the
church rested upon Mr. Brewster, who preached
twice every Lord's day ; and afterwards he occa